AGRIC,  DFPT, 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF   AGRICULTURE. 

BUREAU  OF  CHEMISTRY— BULLETIN  N.O.  71. 

II.    \V.    \VII.KY,    CllIKK   OF    151    KKA1. 


FRANCE,  GERMANY,  AND  ENGLAND, 


COMMENTS  AM)   COMPARISONS   OX    AMERICAN   WORK. 


1 5V 


WILLIAM    15.    ALWOOU, 

Ayt'nt  of  tin'  I'.  S.   I  ><'/>/! /ininil  of  A</ricn//nri'  uml 

of  tin1  Vn'i/liiin  Ai/rli-H/turtil.  Experiment 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 

1  <»<>:>,. 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE. 

BUREAU  OF  CHEMISTRY— BULLETIN  NO.  71. 
H.  W.  WILEY,  CHIEF  OF  BUREAU. 


A  STUDY  OF  CIDER  MAKING 


FRANCE,  GERMANY,  AND  ENGLAND, 


WITH 


COMMENTS  AND  COMPARISONS  ON  AMERICAN  WORK. 


BY 


WILLIAM   B.    ALWOOD, 

*** 
Special  Agent  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Mycologiet 

of  the  Virginia  Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 

1903. 


''•'.'         •'*•***•*          1       -JV 

%;«»*•! 

>; "« »»» *  '^*    ••; 


LETTER  OE  TRANSMITTAL 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

BUREAU  OF  CHEMISTRY, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  July  15,  1902. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith,  for  your  examination 
and  approval,  the  manuscript  of  a  bulletin  prepared  by  Mr.  William 
B.  Alwood,  special  agent  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  on  cider 
making  in  France,  German}7,  and  England. 

I  recommend  that  this  manuscript  be  published  as  Bulletin  No.  71 
of  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry. 

Respectfully,  H.  W.  WILEY, 

Chief. 
Hon.  JAMES  WILSON, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

3 


363372 


LETTER  OF  SUBMITTAL 


VIRGINIA  AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION, 

Blacksburg,  Va.,  June  23, 
SIR:  In  pursuance  of  a  commission  from  the  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture, dated  September  13,  1900,  appointing-  me  a  special  agent  in  the 
Division  of  Chemistry,  and  of  j^our  official  instructions  of  the  same 
date,  I  beg  to  submit  the  accompan}' ing  report,  comprising  a  partial 
study  of  the  cider  industry  in  Europe,  which  has  been  prepared  for 
the  -U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 

The  present  paper  comprises  only  a  part  of  the  work  authorized  by 
the  commission  issued  to  me,  and  carried  on  under  conjoint  direction. 
The  aim  has  been  to  present  a  practical  and  popular  treatment  of  the 
subject,  so  far  as  the  time  at  my  disposal  permitted  me  to  carry  the 
inquiry.  Necessarily  this  report  must  be  fragmentary  and  incom- 
plete, as  one  person  could  not  possibly  cover  the  entire  ground  in  a 
single  season. 

From  the  complex  nature  of  the  work  undertaken,  it  has  seemed 
best  to  present  two  reports — the  present  one  dealing  with  the  economic 
and  practical  data  collected,  and  a  second  report  dealing  with  the  more 
technical  study  of  methods  of  fermentation  and  related  matters,  such 
as  a  study  of  the  organisms  commonly  found  in  apple  juice,  and  the 
importance  of  the  isolation,  culture,  and  employment  of  pure  yeasts 
in  the  manufacture  of  ciders  and  other  fermented  beverages  made 
from  fruit  juices.  A  discussion  of  the  organisms  causing  mal-fermen- 
tations  will  also  be  attempted. 

Veiy  respectfully  submitted. 

WM.  B.  ALWOOD, 

Special  Agent. 
Dr.  H.  W.  WILEY,  Chief,  Bureau  of  Chemistry, 

U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 
4 


PREFACE. 


The  manufacture  of  cider  is  an  important  adjunct  to  fruit  growing 
in  the  United  States.  A  well-made  cider  is  a  beverage  which  is  appre- 
ciated by  all  and  one  which  is  within  the  reach  of  every  possessor  of 
an  orchard.  Cider  is  also  a  beverage  which  may  be  manufactured 
without  the  supervision  of  the  excise  officials.  It  is  thus  an  industry 
which  can  be  widely  extended  and  whose  development  will  make  the 
growing  of  fruits  more  profitable. 

It  is  evident  that  the  principles  which  underlie  the  conduct  of  the 
fermentation  of  apple  juice  in  order  to  secure  a  product  of  a  definite 
chemical  composition  also  apply  to  the  juices  of  other  fruits,  such  as 
pears  and  peaches,  and  thus  a  bulletin  of  this  description  affects,  in 
general,  the  fruit  interests  of  the  country  wherever  the  juices  of  fruits 
are  employed  for  potable  purposes. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  manufacture  of  cider  in  the  United  States 
has  been  conducted  largely  by  empirical  methods.  Little  has  been  done 
toward  the  study  of  the  chemical  composition  of  the  fruits,  the  fresh 
juices,  the  fermenting  musts,  or  the  finished  products.  What  is  true 
of  wines  is  also  true  of  ciders  and  other  fermented  fruit  juices,  viz, 
that  their  excellence  and  healthfulness  are  dependent  entirely  upon 
their  chemical  composition.  The  changes  which  take  place  in  fruit 
juices  during  fermentation  are  essentially  chemical,  and  are  produced 
by  ferments,  which  in  these  instances  may  be  regarded  as  chemical 
reagents. 

In  order  that  the  manufacture  of  cider  may  be  conducted  in  a  more 
systematic  and  scientific  manner  in  this  country,  it  was  deemed  desir- 
able to  study  the  best  processes  employed  in  foreign  countries,  espe- 
cially in  England,  France,  and  Germany,  which  are  the  principal  cider- 
producing  countries  of  the  world.  To  this  end,  Mr.  William  B.  Alwood 
was  employed  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  as  a  special  agent  to 
act  under  the  direction  of  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  and 
was  detailed  to  study  the  actual  processes  of  manufacture  in  the  coun- 
tries named,  as  well  as  to  conduct  extensive  experiments  here.  Mr. 
Alwood,  in  addition  to  collecting  valuable  information  of  a  practical 
nature,  has  also  brought  together  the  scattered  chemical  data  found 
in  difficultly  accessible  reports  and  papers,  so  as  to  make  them  available 
for  use. 


6 

It  is  evident  that  a  careful  study  of  the  data  thus  collected  will  be 
of  great  service  to  our  own  manufacturers  in  showing  them  the  methods 
which  experience  and  scientific  studies  in  foreign  countries  have  deter- 
mined to  be  the  best  for  the  production  of  a  wholesome  and  palatable 
article. 

This  bulletin  serves  as  an  introduction  to  a  more  detailed  study  of 
the  best  methods  of  fermentation,  cellar  treatment,  and  preservation 
of  cider  products,  together  with  a  more  detailed  chemical  study  of  the 
fruits,  the  musts,  and  the  finished  beverages. 

H.  W.  WILEY, 

Chief  of  Bureau. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introduction 11 

Beginning  of  this  investigation 11 

Quantity  of  apples  produced  in  the  United  States 12 

Disposition  of  this  fruit 13 

Acknowledgments 14 

Classification  of  ciders 15 

In  France 15 

In  Germany 16 

In  England 18 

Principal  cider-producing  countries  of  Europe 19 

Relative  importance  of  the  cider  industry  in  different  countries •. . .  19 

The  chief  cider-producing  districts 20 

The  French  cider  districts 21 

The  German  cider  districts 24 

The  English  cider  districts 26 

Cider  apples 27 

Important  characteristics  of  cider  apples 28 

Comparison  of  cider  apples 30 

French  standards 30 

German  standards 35 

English  standards 39 

American  standards - 42 

Harvesting,  transportation,  and  storage  of  cider  fruit 46 

Cider-making  establishments 50 

Primitive  methods  and  appliances 51 

Modern  methods  and  appliances 56 

Factory  systems - 59 

French  factories 59 

German  factories 67 

English  factories 71 

Production  of  the  must 74 

Ripeness  of  the  fruit 74 

Mixing  varieties  of  apples 75 

Washing  the  fruit 76 

Grinding  or  crushing  the  fruit 76 

Maceration  of  pulp 77 

Expressing  the  must 78 

Soaking  the  pomace 78 

Fermentation  of  cider 78 

Room,  vessels,  and  appliances  used - 79 

Temperature  of  fermentation  room 79 

Vessels  used  in  fermentation 80 

Filling  the  vessels 81 

Controlling  the  exit  and  entrance  of  gases .'  82 

Ventilating  bungs  and  spigots  for  casks 84 

7 


Fermentation  of  cider — Continued.  Page. 

The  character  of  the  must 86 

Use  of  densimeters 86 

What  is  a  standard  must? 87 

Fortifying  the  must 91 

Sterilizing  the  must  by  heat 91 

The  use  of  special  yeasts 92 

Observation  and  control  of  fermentation 94 

Definition  and  description  of  fermentation 94 

First  or  tumultuous  fermentation 95 

Racking  off 98 

Avoidance  of  contact  with  air 98 

Second  fermentation 99 

Second  racking  off 100 

Lager  fermentation 102 

German  method  of  fermentation 102 

Preserving  cider  in  storage 103 

Filtering  or  clarifying  the  cider 104 

The  chemical  composition  of  cider 108 

Works  of  reference  ..  113 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 

PLATE  I.  Fig.  1. — Main   building,  Royal   Pomological   School,    Geisenheim, 
Germany.     Fig.    2. — Giant    tree    of    Pyrus   (Sorbus)    domestica, 

Taunus,  Germany 14 

II.  Fig.  1. — Cider  apple  trees  by  the  roadside,    Normandy,  France. 

Fig.  2. — Glimpse  into  an  old  pear  orchard,  Normandy 20 

III.  Types  of  cider  apple  trees  in  Normandy,  France 22 

IV.  Homes  of  peasant  cider  makers  in  Normandy,  France 24 

V.  Fjg.  1. — Train  loaded  with  cider  apples  in  sacks,  France.     Fig.  2. — 

Ox  cart  used  for  hauling  apples  in  Germany 48 

VI.  Fig.  1. — Itinerant  cider  makers  at  work  in  streets;  straw  used  in 
building  up  cheese,    Rennes,    France.      Fig.    2. — Similar  outfit 

mounted  for  travel,  waiting  for  a  job,  Trouville,  France 58 

VII.  Fig.  1. — Butleigh  Court,  Somersetshire,  England,  seat  of  English 
cider  experiment  station.  Fig.  2. — The  cider  orchard  at  But- 
leigh Court 74 

TEXT    FIGURES. 

FIG.    1. — Bin  made  of  hurdles  for  outdoor  storage  of  apples,  used  in  England.  50 

2.— The  "touruauge"  apple  crusher,  Normandy,  France 51 

3.  —Primitive  apple  grater  in  use  in  Germany 54 

4. — Primitive  single-lever  cider  press  in  use  in  Germany 55 

5. — Primitive  double-lever  cider  press  in  use  in  Germany 55 

6. — The  "greif "  apple  crusher  of  Germany 56 

7. — Slotted  bottom  of  hopper  used  in  "greif"  machine 57 

8. — "Greif"  apple  crusher — sectional  view  of  hopper 58 

9. — Crushing  cylinders  of  the  "greif"  machine 59 

10. — Fermentation  and  storage  room,  Noel  system,  France 60 

11. — Vertical  section  of  factory  of  the  "Union  Agricole,"  St.  Ouen-de- 

Thouberville,  near  Rouen,  France 63 

12. — Ground  plan  of  factory  of  the  * '  Union  Agricole  " 64 

13. — Vertical  cross  section  of  small  German  cider  factory  with  arched 

cellars , 70 

14. — Vertical  cross  section  of  two-story  German  cider  cellar 71 

15.  — Noel  device  for  ventilating  fermentation  casks 82 

16. — German  earthenware  ventilating  funnel — vertical  section 83 

17. — Glycerin  ventilating  funnel 84 

18. — Bent  ventilating  tube 85 

19. — Noel  ventilating  bung 85 

20. — Device  for  maintaining  covering  layer  of  carbon  dioxid  as  cider  is 

withdrawn 103 

21. — Device  for  charging  casks  with  carbon  dioxid  in  storage  cellar 104 

22. — Device  for  burning  sulphur  match  in  casks 104 

23. — Linen  sack  gravity  filter 105 

24. — Cellulose  power  filter  used  in  Germany ^ 106 

25. — Asbestos  sack  filter — "  Filtre  Maignen  " 107 

26.— Asbestos  gravity  filter 108 


A  STUDY  OF  CIDER  MAKING  IN  FRANCE,  GERMANY, 

AND  ENGLAND. 


INTRODUCTION. 

in  the  United  States  cider  has  been  in  the  past  too  generally 
regarded  as  a  product  of  very  little  importance  from  a  commercial 
standpoint,  and  it  has  been  too  often  so  made  that  most  persons  of  cul- 
tured taste  have  looked  upon  it  with  little  approval  when  offered  as  a 
beverage.  Yet  from  the  etymology  of  the  word  it  is  certain  that  the 
name  is  very  ancient,  and  that  cider  was  the  wine  or  strong  drink, 
"shekar,"  of  the  Phoenicians,  and  was  well  known  by  the  Aryan  race 
which  populated  northern  Europe  before  the  dawn  of  history.  A 
study  of  the  words  used  to  denote  the  apple  and  the  beverage  made 
from  it  shows  that  the  fruit  and  the  wine  were  known  before  the  races 
of  northern  Europe  separated  into  Slavonians,  Germans,  and  Celts, 
and  that  the  ancient  Britons  introduced  the  fruit  into  the  British  Isles 
before  the  Roman  conquest. a  The  word  cider  as  used  by  English- 
speaking  people  is  the  same  as  the  Latin  cicera,  Spanish  sidra,  Italian 
sidro,  and  French  cidre. 

The  German  language,  on  the  other  hand,  seems  never  to  have  con- 
tained the  word  cider  as  a  pure  German  word,  but  the  beverage  made 
from  the  fruit  of  the  apple  is  classed  as  a  wine  (apfel  wein}. 

BEGINNING    OF   THIS   INVESTIGATION. 

The  subject  of  working  up  the  low-grade  apples  left  as  an  unmer- 
chantable residuum  of  the  apple  crops  grown  in  the  United  States  has 
for  some  years  attracted  the  attention  of  the  writer,  and  experimental 
work  on  this  subject  has  been  done  in  the  horticultural  department 
of  the  Virginia  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  for  the  past  eight 
years.  Several  preliminary  reports  of  this  work  have  been  published6 
from  time  to  time,  intended  to  encourage  local  efforts  to  utilize  the 
large  quantities  of  unmerchantable  fruit  produced  every  year  when 
there  is  a  fruit  crop. 

These  preliminary  efforts  served  to  awaken  a  strong  interest  in  the 
possibilities  of  making  a  pure  sound  cider  from  our  apples,  which 

«Sir  George  Bird  wood  quoted  by  Cooke  in  "  Cider  and  Perry,"  p.  3. 
b  Bulletins  48,  57,  and  71,  Va.  Agr.  Expt.  Station. 

11 


12 

might  serve  as  a  light  American  wine  so  cheap  and  wholesome  as  to  be 
usable  by  everybody,  and  as  a  secondary  product  from  such  fermented 
cider  a  fine  apple  vinegar  to  displace  the  enormous  quantities  of  chem- 
ical vinegars  which  find  sale  in  those  States  where  their  manufacture 
and  sale  are  not  restricted  by  statute. 

The  importance  of  utilizing  our  low-grade  apples  can  only  be  appre- 
ciated after  realizing  the  probable  quantity  of  this  fruit  produced  in 
the  United  States. 

QUANTITY    OF   APPLES   PRODUCED   IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

It  is  impossible  to  present  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  apple  crop  of 
the  United  States.  The  Census  Bureau  has  not  in  the  past  gathered 
statistics  concerning  this  crop  which  can  be  said  to  cover  this  subject 
with  any  degree  of  completeness;  nor  has  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture been  able  up  to  the  present  time  to  furnish  the  data  desired. 
The  difficulties  grow  out  of  the  nature  of  the  crop  itself.  The  apple 
is  a  fruit  grown  almost  over  the  entire  cultivated  area  of  the  countiy, 
but  in  many  instances  only  in  a  haphazard  manner  and  as  a  crop  of 
secondary  importance;  hence  any  attempt  to  deal  with  it  accurately 
from  a  statistical  standpoint  must  of  necessity  fail  because  of  the 
immense  labor  involved  and  the  lack  of  definite  information  among 
the  farmers  themselves  a,s  to  the  amount  of  their  crops. 

The  growth,  however,  of  commercial  orcharding,  along  with  the 
practice  of  packing  and  handling  the  merchantable  crop  in  barrels 
and  boxes,  has  made  it  possible  to  gather  with  some  degree  of  accu- 
racy statistics  of  the  merchantable  apples  which  enter  into  commerce. 
These  statistics  have  been  collected  by  the  Orange  Judd  Publishing 
Company  with  perhaps  more  care  than  by  any  other  concern  in  the 
country,  and  from  their  tables a  the  following  data  are  taken: 

The  greatest  crop  ever  recorded  in  this  country  appears  to  have  been 
that  of  1896,  and  comprised  69,070,000  barrels.  It  also  appears  that 
the  average  merchantable  crop  of  the  country  is  in  round  numbers 
50,000,000  barrels,  or  about  140,000,000  bushels,  annually. 

If  this  quantity  enters  into  commerce  through  avenues  sufficiently 
definite  to  give  it  a  place  in  the  statistics  of  trade,  how  shall  one  esti- 
mate the  millions  of  bushels  which  are  unmerchantable,  or  which  enter 
commerce  untraced  and  unrecorded? 

It  is,  then,  very  evident  that  we  have  no  means  of  estimating  with 
reasonable  accuracy  the  grand  total  of  our  apple  crop;  but  well-informed 
persons  will,  I  think,  agree  to  the  statement  that,  on  the  whole,  not 
more  than  about  60  per  cent  of  the  fruit  actually  grown  in  this  country 
finds  its  way  into  channels  of  commerce  in  such  a  manner  as  to  appear 
in  general  statistics.  If  this  be  a  fair  supposition,  then  nearly 
100,000,000  bushels  of  this  fruit  are  either  consumed  without  having 

« American  Agriculturist,  October  27,  1900,  p.  398. 


13 

passed  through  the  channels  of  commerce  mentioned  above  or  go  to 
waste  on  the  farms  where  grown. 

DISPOSITION    OF   THIS    FRUIT. 

First  of  all,  a  large  part  is  consumed  where  grown  or  in  local  markets. 
Large  quantities  are  consumed  in  the  manufacture  of  evaporated  fruit 
and  of  cider,  both  for  drinking  purposes  and  for  conversion  into 
vinegar.  In  certain  districts  large  quantities  of  low-grade  fruit  are 
used  for  canning  and  making  marmalades,  butters,  jellies,  etc.  A 
great  quantity  of  this  unmerchantable  fruit,  especial!}7  in  the  South, 
goes  into  the  preparation  of  sun-dried  fruit.  In  some  years  200  tons 
of  this  sun-dried  fruit  are  shipped  from  the  little  station  of  Chris- 
tiansburg,  Va.,  8  miles  from  the  experiment  station  at  Blacksburg. 

Perhaps  the  data a  in  regard  to  merchantable  fruit  produced  have 
been  collected  with  as  great  accuracy  in  Virginia  as  in  any  other  State. 
These  data  show  that  our  crop  of  1897  reached  about  281,889  barrels. 
These  figures  are  not  quite  high  enough  for  that  year,  as  the  total 
merchantable  crop  was  about  300,000  barrels.  Supposing  this  to  have 
been  00  per  cent  of  the  total  crop,  about  1,400,000  bushels  of  apples 
were  produced  in  Virginia  that  year.  Of  this  quantity  about  600,000 
bushels  were  locally  consumed  or  went  to  waste.  Formerly  the  esti- 
mates were  much  larger,  being  based  on  the  Eleventh  Census,6  but  we 
now  know  that  the  census  figures  of  1890,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  apple 
production  in  Virginia,  are  inadequate. 

Excepting  the  sun-dried,  evaporated,  and  canned  fruit,  the  apple 
products  just  enumerated  are  generally  adulterated  in  the  United 
States,  either  by  the  use  of  other  than  vegetable  substances  or  by  the 
mixture  of  different  fruit  and  vegetable  substances,  and  the  use  of 
various  preservatives  and  substances  which,  if  not  preservative,  serve 
to  mask  defects  in  quality  and  cheapen  methods  of  manufacture.  This 
adulteration  has  become  so  notorious  as  to  greatly  injure  a  legitimate 
trade  which  should  be  a  most  proper  and  natural  outlet  for  this  large 
portion  of  our  apple  crop  which  falls  below  merchantable  grade. 

The  important  practical  bearing  of  these  secondary  industries  upon 
fruit  growing  in  our  country  has  led  the  writer  fora  number  of  years 
past  to  devote  some  attention  to  their  study,  with  a  view  to  determin- 
ing the  principles  which  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  practical  manufacture 
of  these  products  on  the  farms  or  in  small  cooperative  factories  placed 
in  the  midst  of  the  districts  which  furnish  the  raw  material. 

To  this  work  the  authorities  of  the  Virginia  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  have  given  all  the  support  possible  with  the  funds  available, 
and  the  work  has  progressed  sufficiently  to  enable  us  to  give  practical 
instruction  of  a  reliable  character  to  our  students,  especially  along  the 
lines  of  canning  and  making  butters  and  marmalades.  But  on  some 

"Bulletin  101,  Va.  Expt.  Sta.  6 Bulletin  48,  Va.  Expt.  Sta. 


14 

lines  we  had  up  to  the  spring  of  1900  made  little  or  no  progress,  most 
conspicuous  among  which  were  the  practical  methods  of  fermenting 
ciders  and  vinegars,  and  the  biology  of  the  alcoholic  and  acetic  ferments. 
All  questions  relating  to  products  from  fruits  received  consideration 
in  my  work  abroad,  but  particular  attention  was  given  to  a  practi- 
cal examination  of  the  methods  of  manufacturing  cider  in  France, 
Germany,  and  England,  and  a  study  of  the  biology  of  alcoholic  and 
acetic  fermentation  of  fruit  juices,  either  for  the  manufacture  of 
beverages  or  vinegar.  This  paper  deals  with  the  cider  investigation 
in  its  practical  bearings,  and  other  questions  of  interest  are  reserved 
for  a  subsequent  report. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

In  the  investigations  made  abroad  1  was  almost  without  exception 
received  in  the  most  cordial  manner  by  both  public  officers  and  private 
individuals  whom  I  had  occasion  to'  call  upon  for  assistance;  and 
while  1  can  not  mention  by  name  all  persons  who  gave  assistance,  I 
wish  to  extend  special  thanks  to  the  following: 

The  diplomatic  and  consular  officers  of  our  Government  at  London, 
Paris,  Frankfort,  and  Berlin  extended  every  courtesy,  aiding  me  by 
introductions  and  by  furnishing  special  information,  all  of  which 
assisted  very  much  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  work  in  hand. 

In  England  I  was  received  in  a  most  courteous  manner  and,  barring 
some  slight  exceptions,  was  shown  over  the  factories  and  given  such 
information  as  was  desired.  Among  those  who  thus  assisted  I  wish  to 
mention  especially  the  following: 

Major  Craigie,  of  the  board  of  agriculture;  Mr.  F.  H.  Hall,  of  the  agricultural  col- 
lege at  Wye;  Hon.  C.  W.  Radcliff  Cooke,  of  Hellene,  near  Dymock,  Herefordshire; 
Mr.  Charles  D.  Wise,  of  Winchcombe,  Gloucestershire;  Mr.  F.  J.  Lloyd,  London, 
consulting  chemist  of  the  Bath  and  West  Society;  R.  Neville  Grenville,  esq.,  But- 
leigh  Court,  Somersetshire;  Mr.  Frederick  George  Farwell,  Bath;  Mr.  A.  E.  Beach, 
Winchcombe,  Gloucestershire;  Mr.  T.  W.  Beach,  Ealing  Road,  Brentford,  London; 
Mr.  H.  P.  Bulmer,  Ryelands,  Herefordshire;  Mr.  Henry  Weston,  Much  Markle, 
Herefordshire;  Mr.  John  Watkins,  Withington,  Herefordshire. 

In  France  I  was  very  courteously  received  by  Mr.  Leon  Vassilliere, 
director  of  agriculture  in  the  ministry  of  agriculture,  and  by  him 
introduced  to  others.  Prof.  A.  Kayser,  of  the  National  School  of 
Agriculture,  Paris,  extended  every  courtesy  in  his  laboratory,  and 
permitted  me  to  note  the  methods  of  his  work  and  study  the  litera- 
ture of  his  department.  Mr.  A.  Truelle,  of  Trouville,  Calvados, 
assisted  me  in  securing  information  and  special  literature.  Mr.  A. 
Power,  director  of  the  Grand  Cidrerie  at  Saint  Ouen-de-Thouberville, 
permitted  me  to  study  the  methods  of  the  factory,  and  gave  much 
assistance.  Mr.  E.  Herissant,  director  of  the  Practical  Agricultural 
School  of  Three  Crosses,  at  Rennes,  Brittany,  in  like  manner  explained 


Bui    71.  Bureau  of  Chemistry.  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 


PLATE  I. 


FIQ.  1.— MAIN  BUILDING,  ROYAL  POMOLOGICAL  SCHOOL, 
GEISENHEIM,  GERMANY. 


FIQ.  2.— GIANT  TREE  OF  PYRUS  (SORBUS)  DOMESTICA,  TAUNUS, 
GERMANY. 


15 

the  methods  of  his  work,  both  in  studying  varieties  of  cider  apples 
and  making  cider,  and  secured  special  literature  for  me.  Mr.  Isidore 
Guibout,  and  his  son,  Mr.  Joseph  Guibout,  peasant  farmers  of  Danestal, 
Calvados,  gave  me  every  opportunity  to  study  the  conditions  and 
technique  of  cider  making  on  the  peasant  proprietors'  places.  Mr. 
J.  M.  Buisson,  secretary  of  one  of  the  horticultural  syndicates  of 
France,  extended  many  courtesies,  and  introduced  me  to  many  men 
from  whom  information  could  be  obtained. 

In  German}-  1  am  first  of  all  indebted  to  Director  R.  Goethe,  of  the 
Royal  Pomological  School,  at  Geisenheim  (PI.  I,  fig.  1),  for  courtesies 
extended  at  that  institution.  I  am  also  especially  indebted  to  Prof. 
Dr.  Julius  Wortmann,  director  of  the  laboratory  of  plant  physiology 
at  Geisenheim,  for  his  assistance  in  regard  to  every  part  of  my 
inquiry  and  for  instruction  while  working  in  his  laboratory.  From 
Prof.  Dr.  Richard  Meissner,  then  assistant  to  Professor  Wortmann, 
I  received  much  personal  assistance  and  kindly  counsel.  Prof.  Dr. 
Paul  Lindner,  of  Berlin,  also  extended  courtesies  at  the  Imperial 
High  School  for  Fermentation  Work,  for  which  I  am  deeply  indebted. 

Of  the  manufacturers  in  Germany  I  wish  to  especially  remember 
the  Brothers  Freyeisen,  of  Frankfort,  for  permitting  an  examination 
of  their  work  and  factories  in  detail.  Acknowledgments  are  also  due 
to  Mr.  Fritz  Batz,  Neuenhain,  Taunus,  and  Mr.  C.  H.  Schmidt,  of 
Schierstein,  Rhinegau,  for  extending  like  courtesies  at  their  factories. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  CIDERS. 

Wines  have  long  since  become  well  recognized  by  specific  names 
which,  within  limits,  denote  certain  characteristics,  more  or  less  con- 
stant; but  with  the  fermented  juice  of  the  apple  in  the  past  all  has 
been  cider,  whether  good,  bad,  or  indifferent;  and  even  yet  only  those 
who  are  well  informed  on  the  question  are  aware  that  there  are  ciders 
and  ciders. 

To  the  fact  that  ciders  have  not  in  the  past  been  developed  on 
special  lines  and  classified,  we  owe  much  of  the  misunderstanding  in 
regard  to  the  possibility  of  making  a  good  beverage  from  apple  juice; 
but  to  the  fact  that  so  much  vilely  adulterated  or  chemically  concocted 
stuff  is  put  on  the  market  as  a  drink,  we  owe,  in  much  greater  degree, 
the  general  misunderstanding  in  regard  to  this  product  in  our  country. 

IN   FRANCE. 

The  French  attempt  to  classify  ciders  as  "pure  juice,"  "  marchand," 
and  "boisson."  To  say  that  this  classification  is  well  observed  is  wide 
of  the  truth.  The  first  named  is  intended  to  be  pure  cider  of  a  special 
quality,  made  from  the  finest  fruit.  It  should  contain  6  or  7  per  cent 


16 

of  alcohol,  and  may  be  made  as  still  cider — i.  e.,  fermented  "dry" 
(sec);  as  "mousseux,"  cider  bottled  before  all  the  sugar  is  exhausted, 
and  so  handled  as  to  develop  and  retain  a  certain  quantity  of  gas;  or 
as  cider  "champagnise,"  which  has  received  more  special  treatment 
than  ordinary  "mousseux"  and  often  is,  in  fact,  dosed  with  sugar  to 
fortify  it. 

The  cider  "marchand,"  or  simply  cider,  should  contain  from  4  to  5 
per  cent  alcohol,  and  is  made  from  fruits  of  medium  quality;  or,  as 
more  often  happens,  if  rich  enough,  it  is  diluted  by  mixture  of  the 
second  pressing  with  pure  juice.  This  is  the  cider  of  commerce  as  it 
ordinarity  leaves  the  manufacturer,  but  after  it  pays  the  octroi  or 
tax  and  enters  into  consumption  in  the  city,  it  may  be,  and  often  is, 
diluted  and  becomes  quite  a  different  article  from  that  which  leaves 
the  manufacturer. 

The  "boisson,"  as  applied  to  a  cider,  means  the  juice  of  second  or 
even  third  pressing  of  the  pomace.  It  is  fermented  comparatively 
"dry,"  contains  about  2  to  3  per  cent  of  alcohol,  and  is  the  ordinary 
cider  of  the  common  people,  especially  laborers  in  both  country  and 
city,  in  the  cider  districts.  It  is  often  furnished  in  large  quantities  to 
the  farm  laborers,  and  if  so  handled  as  to  retain  considerable  gas,  or 
artificially  charged,  it  is  an  agreeable  light  drink.  "Boisson"  is  also 
veiy  often  called  "petit  cidre"  (small  cider). 

A  poor  cider  is  made  from  the  unpared  chopped  American  dried 
apples  and  from  the  dried  cores  and  parings  we  sell  to  France,  by 
treating  this  stock  as  follows:  About  10  kilos  (22  pounds)  of  the  dried 
stock  are  macerated  in  a  vat  containing  one  hectoliter  (about  26  gal- 
lons) of  water  with  addition  of  some  raisins  or  sugar  to  suit  the  taste 
of  the  manipulator,  and  this  is  then  permitted  to  ferment  slightly  in 
mass  to  extract  the  desired  substances,  and  the  liquid  is  expressed  and 
treated  as  in  case  of  low-grade  cider.  The  beverage  made  in  this  man- 
ner is  restricted  by  law  to  3  per  cent  alcohol  content  and  is  a  cheap 
drink,  used  mostly  at  low-class  restaurants  and  for  laborers.  This  low- 
grade  apple  stock  sent  to  France  is  also  used  to  macerate  with  hard 
cider  to  restore  in  part  its  quality  by  inducing  new  fermentation;  but 
not  the  slightest  evidence  was  found  to  substantiate  the  supposition 
heretofore  frequently  advanced,  that  this  poor  apple  stock,  or  that 
even  good  sun-dried  apple  stock  is  used  to  make  French  wines  or  to 
adulterate  them. 

IN  GERMANY. 

Cider  is  classified  in  Germany  into  common  cider,  or  "apfel  wein," 
"export  apfel  wein,"  and  "champagner  apfel  wein."  One  also  con- 
stantly meets  with  such  names  as  "Speierling  apfel  wein,"  "Boers- 
dorfer  apfel  wein,"  and  others.  These  grades  of  cider  do  not 
correspond  closely  with  the  classes  or  grades  of  French  or  English 


17 

ciders.  These  names  are,  in  fact,  more  to  be  relied  upon  as  having  a 
definite  meaning  so  far  as  the  strength  and  purity  of  the  article  is 
concerned. 

The  common  cider  of  Germany  is  made  just  as  they  make  ordinary 
light  wines,  and  their  cider  is,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  a  wine.  It 
will  show  from  3. To  to  4.50  or  nearly  5  per  cent  of  alcohol,  varying 
with  the  character  of  the  fruit,  and  the  ordinary  cider  is  a  dry,  light 
wine  of  very  insipid  taste  to  the  American  palate  when  not  charged 
with  carbon  dioxid.  These  ciders  are  kept  in  casks  and  drawn  as 
wanted. 

The  "export  apfelwein"  is  made  practically  in  the  same  manner 
from  selected  fruit,  but  is  either  bottled  when  there  is  still  sugar 
enough  to  saturate  it  with  gas  or  is  saturated  artificially.  It  may 
show  4.5  to  5  or  5.5  per  cent  of  alcohol  and  is  a  still  light  wine. 

The  "champagner  apfelwein"  or  "schaum  apfelwein"  is  much 
like  champagne  from  grape  wines.  At  a  proper  stage  the  cider  is 
clarified,  sugared,  and  bottled,  and  carried  through  the  processes 
described  hereafter. 

The  "Boersdorfer  apfel  wein"  is  simply  a  name  given  to  indicate  a 
product  supposedly  made  from  the  Boersdorfer  apple,  but  it  was  not 
evident  that  this  brand  had  any  special  qualities  not  found  in  a  good 
export  grade. 

The  "Speierling  apfel  wein,"  however,  is  a  cider  made  by  using  a 
small  proportion  of  the  juice  from  the  wild  fruit  known  to  botanists  as 
Pi/i'KS  (Sorbus)  domestica.  This  tree  was  found  growing  to  giant  pro- 
portions on  the  Taunus  mountains  about  Soden.  The  fruit  when  fully 
ripe  and  touched  by  frost  becomes  very  mellow  and  has  an  agreeable 
flavor,  but  before  ripening  it  is  characterized  by  a  pungent,  acrid 
juice  so  rich  in  tannin  as  to  remind,  one  of  the  unripe  American  per- 
simmon in  its  effect  on  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  mouth.  The 
juice  of  this  wild  fruit  is  added  to  apple  juice  in  small  quantity,  not 
over  5  per  cent,  and  by  reason  of  the  tannin  contained  is  thought  to 
produce  a  finer  cider,  which  is  more  easily  clarified,  and  to  furnish  in 
the  finished  product  a  superior  flavor  and  bouquet.  (PI.  I,  fig.  2.) 

It  can  not  be  said  that  the  German  ciders  appeal  to  the  American 
palate,  with  the  exception  of  their  champagne  ciders  and  the  very 
finest  of  the  other  grades;  but  that  they  are  well-made  standard  goods 
is  most  certainly  true. 

In  Germany  great  quantities  of  fresh,  partly  fermented  cider  are 
offered  at  the  restaurants  in  the  fall  season.  This  they  call  "  rauscher" 
or  "suss  apfel  wein"  (smoking  or  sweet  cider).  The  brothers  Freyei- 
sen  stated  that  they  sold  ordinarily  about  5,000  hectoliters  of  such 
cider  each  year  in  Frankfort  during  the  making  season.  This  would 
be  about  132,000  gallons. 

17247— No.  71—03 2 


18 

IN    ENGLAND. 

In  England  a  strong  effort  is  being  made  to  bring  about  a  better 
understanding  of  the  importance  of  grading  ciders  in  accordance  with 
some  standard.  But  it  could  not  be  learned  that  any  generally  accepted 
classification  had  been  adopted,  further  than  that  the  Bath  and  West 
Society,  which  holds  the  only  fair  at  which  &ny  considerable  exhibit 
of  ciders  is  made  in  England,  recognizes  two  classes,  i.  e.,  those  show- 
ing 4  per  cent  of  alcohol  or  more,  and  those  which  show  less  than  4 
per  cent  of  alcohol.  The  latter  are  called  small  cider  by  their  chemist, 
but  this  word  is  not  accepted  in  the  English  trade.  From  analyses 
made  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  of  samples 
selected  at  Bath,  at  the  annual  show  in  May,  1900,  it  appears  that  the 
classification  that  year  was  not  based  on  accurate  chemical  data,  or  else 
the  samples  were  confused  in  handling. 

There  were  goods  of  both  classes,  bottled  and  in  casks,  and  it  appeared 
that  the  classification  was  rather  artificial,  being  often  determined,  not 
by  the  quantity  of  alcohol  a  certain  quality  of  juice  will  produce,  but 
by  the  stage  at  which  fermentation  had  been  arrested.  The  analyses 
of  ciders  from  the  Bath  and  West  exhibit  of  1900  show  conclusively 
that  fermentation  had  not  been  normally  carried  out,  but  that  it  had 
been  arrested  by  artificial  means. 

In  fact  the  cider  of  commerce  in  England,  except  in  some  few  cases, 
has  no  recognized  standard.  There  seems  to  be  a  very  unwise  effort 
to  cater  to  a  demand  for  a  sweet  liquor  showing  only  3  to  4  per  cent 
of  alcohol.  If  made  from  a  good  quality  of  fruit  and  unadulterated, 
such  cider  must  still  contain  considerable  unfermented  sugar,  which 
renders  it  very  unstable  and  difficult  to  handle  in  shipment,  except  as 
sterilized  bottled  goods,  unless  treated  sufficiently  with  preservatives 
to  check  fermentation.  There  is  another  alternative  equally  bad, 
namely,  to  ferment  the  juice  dry,  dilute  with  water,  and  dose  with 
saccharin  to  produce  the  sweet  taste  desired.  It  was  said  that  this 
was  practiced,  but  no  proof  of  it  was  seen. 

In  England,  however,  excellent  grades  of  bottled  ciders  were  found, 
both  still  and  gaseous.  Some  of  these  were  made  from  special  varie- 
ties of  apples,  as  Foxwhelp,  a  very  old  English  cider  apple,  or  Kings- 
ton Black,  but  more  often  they  were  made  from  the  mixed  fruit  of 
the  district.  Eight  examples  of  these  ciders  are  shown  under  sample 
numbers  32  to  39  (see  p.  111).  These  were  really  fine  ciders,  some  dry, 
some  bottled  with  a  small  percentage  of  unfermented  sugar,  and  others 
sugared  in  the  process  of  champagnizing. 

A  sparkling  cider  is  not  necessarily  a  sugared  article,  but,  if  pure, 
is  best  produced  by  bottling  before  fermentation  is  complete.  It  is 
then  a  normal  French  "mousseux."  This  grade  can,  however,  be 
produced  by  charging  with  gas  artificially  when  bottled.  A  cham- 


19 

pagne  cider  is  not,  properly  speaking-,  a  pure  cider,  but  is  fortified  by 
addition  of  sugar. 

It  appears  that  even  in  the  best  cider  districts  of  England  there  are 
no  really  accepted  names  for  ciders  which  can  be  depended  upon  by 
purchasers.  The  name  of  the  maker  is  practically  the  only  mark 
worthy  of  consideration.  This  state  of  affairs,  however,  is  in  fair  way 
to  remedy  itself,  as  the  industry  is  rapidly  developing  on  special  lines, 
and  certain  class  designations,  such  as  still  ciders,  sparkling  ciders, 
champagne  ciders  (both  dry  and  sweet),  of  approximate  alcoholic 
strength,  will  soon  come  to  be  recognized  in  the  trade.  The  Bulmers, 
at  Hereford,  seem  already  to  have  reached  a  high  degree  of  perfection 
in  the  preparation  of  their  goods,  and  Mr.  Charles  Dacres  Wise,  at 
the  estate  of  Lord  Sudley,  in  Gloucestershire,  was  putting  up  a  veiy 
excellent  grade  of  both  still  and  sparkling-  ciders  and  perry,  the  latter 
being  made  from  the  fruit  of  the  pear.  Nothing  so  interesting-  in  the 
way  of  a  country  plant  was  found  as  that  of  Hon.  C.  W.  Radcliffe 
Cook,  at  Hellens,  near  Dymock,  Herefordshire.  This  country  gentle- 
man, an  ex-member  of  Parliament,  was  personally  devoting-  himself  to 
the  manufacture  of  cider  in  a  small  way,  with  the  most  primitive 
machinery,  and  yet  producing  a  good  sound  article.  It  was,  however, 
at  Butleigh  Court,  the  country  seat  of  R.  Neville  Greenville,  esq., 
that  the  best  experimental  work  on  cider  manufacture  found  in  Eng- 
land was  seen.  These  establishments  will  be  mentioned  more  fully 
under  a  subsequent  head. 

PRINCIPAL  CIDER-PRODUCING  COUNTRIES  OF  EUROPE. 

When  this  inquiry  in  Europe  was  begun,  the  writer  was  somewhat 
imbued  with  the  notion,  so  prevalent  in  the  United  States,  that  cider 
making  could  only  be  regarded  as  a  secondary  affair,  a  method  of  util- 
izing inferior  fruit  in  the  manufacture  of  a  product  of  some  local 
value,  but  not  as  an  industry  of  general  importance.  However  im- 
portant the  saving-  of  the  low-grade  or  unmerchantable  fruit  might  be 
to  our  growers,  it  had  not  seemed  as  though  cider  making  could  be 
ranked  as  a  great  industry.  Interest  in  the  matter  had  been  mainly 
aroused  by  what  seemed  to  be  a  scientific  question  of  some  moment, 
with  fairly  promising  economic  possibilities. 

RELATIVE    IMPORTANCE    OF   THE    CIDER   INDUSTRY   IN   DIFFERENT 

COUNTRIES. 

In  England  evidences  were  found  of  an  industry  fairly  well  founded, 
and  in  France  and  Germany  there  exists  a  great  industry  already  well 
developed  and  employing  millions  of  capital  in  the  aggregate,  with 
large  areas  of  country  devoted  to  growing  cider  fruits  as  an  industry. 

France,  by  reason  of  the  extent  of  its  manufacture,  is  easily  the 
leading  cider  country  of  the  world,  followed  by  Germany,  England, 


20 

Switzerland,  United  States,  Canada,  Austria,  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxem- 
burg, and  Spain,  in  order  of  importance/' 

The  acreage  of  orchards  in  France  can  not  be  stated  with  any  cer- 
tainty, but  from  estimates6  of  the  total  apple  trees  in  Brittany, 
made  by  Frere  Martial,  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  of  the  Institute 
of  Ploermel,  it  appears  that  in  this  province  alone  there  are  about 
24,500,000  trees,  and  as  this  province  makes  about  one-third  the  cider 
of  France,  a  like  ratio  would  carry  the  total  number  of  trees  up  to 
about  75,000,000  for  the  entire  cider  country. 

After  several  tours  of  the  cider  country  of  France  the  writer  is  pre- 
pared to  believe  that  this  grand  total  is  not  too  high.  In  the  Calvados 
country,  at  some  places,  the  face  of  the  country  is  a  forest  of  fruit  trees, 
and  frequently  the  highways  are  also  planted  on  both  sides  (Plate  II). 

The  product  of  cider  varies  naturally  with  the  quantity  of  fruit 
available  from  year  to  year,  but  the  mean  annual  production  of  France 
for  twenty  years  (1879-1898)  was  297,946,C30&  gallons,  and  the  maxi- 
mum product  during  this  time  reached  695,388,430  gallons  in  1893. 
From  the  French  Government  reports  it  appears  that  1,021,090 
persons  were  entered  as  manufacturers  of  cider  in  1898.  The  year 
1900  saw  one  of  the  greatest  harvests  ever  known  in  France,  and 
without  doubt  the  fruit  product  surpassed  all  previous  figures. 
Consul-General  Hertslet,  of  the  British  consular  service,0  reporting  in 
May,  1901,  says  that  the  production  of  cider  in  the  68  departments  of 
France,  in  which  apples  are  grown  for  this  purpose,  amounted  to 
647,000,000  gallons,  in  round  numbers,  from  the  apple  harvest  of  1900; 
but  this  estimate  is  doubtless  not  based  on  the  final  reports. 

The  above  figures  as  to  production,  except  the  last  statement,  are 
taken  from  those  published  by  the  French  ministry  of  agriculture, 
and  are  in  no  sense  complete  as  to  grand  total.  They  represent  the 
quantity  which  finds  its  way  into  commerce,  so  as  to  be  reported  to 
the  Government,  but  take  no  account  of  the  enormous  quantity  locally 
consumed.  Each  family  in  the  great  cider  provinces  of  Picard}',  Nor- 
mandy, and  Brittany,  as  a  usual  thing,  makes  its  own  cider  or  pro- 
vides for  the  same  in  such  a  manner  that  it  does  not  enter  into  the 
figures  reported  to  the  Government.  It  is  probable  that  the  official 
figures  include  very  nearly  the  total  of  pure  ciders,  but  the  "  boisson," 
or  low-grade  ciders,  are  practically  not  represented  in  these  statements. 

THE    CHIEF   CIDER-PRODUCING    DISTRICTS. 

There  are  many  statements  current  in  the  different  countries  of 
Europe  as  to  the  peculiar  importance  of  certain  districts  as  regards 

«  Truelle,  address  before  International  Congress  on  the  Cider  Industry,  Paris,  1900. 
t>  International  Congress  on  the  Cider  Industry,  Paris,  1900,  pp.  72  and  87. 
c  British  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Reports,  Miscellaneous  Series,  No.   552,  May 
6,  1901. 


Bui.  71,  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 


PLATE 


FIG.  1.— CIDER-APPLE  TREES  BY  THE  ROADSIDE,  NORMANDY,  FRANCE. 


FIG.  2.— GLIMPSE  INTO  AN  OLD  PEAR  ORCHARD,  NORMANDY,  FRANCE. 


21 

the  excellence  of  their  ciders.  These  statements  at  once  recall  state- 
ments of  like  nature  in  regard  to  the  quality  of  grape  wines  of  certain 
districts.  In  the  case  of  wines  it  can  not  be  questioned  that  experi- 
ence has  abundantly  demonstrated  the  correctness  of  these  claims. 
Soil  and  climate  certainly  play  a  very  important  role  in  the  production 
of  all  fine  wines.  Do  they  play  an  equally  important  role  in  the  pro- 
duction of  ciders?  The  chemical  data  on  varieties  grown  in  different 
countries  must  in  part  answer  this  question. 

It  was  not  found  that  any  investigator  had  really  undertaken  a 
serious  inquiry  into  this  matter,  and  the  manufacture  of  cider  can  by 
no  means  be  said  to  have  reached  a  stage  of  perfection  which  warrants 
definite  conclusions  of  like  value  to  those  which  govern  wine  making. 
It  is  very  evident,  however,  that  in  certain  districts  where  grapes  will 
not  grow  to  such  perfection  as  to  admit  of  their  culture  as  a  wine 
fruit,  apples  have  for  ages  taken  their  place.  European  peoples  are 
without  exception  consumers  of  wines  in  considerable  quantity,  some 
nations  much  more  so  than  others.  Hence,  wherever  the  grape  wine 
can  not  be  successfully  produced,  there  has  been  a  more  or  less  per- 
sistent effort  to  supply  the  demand  for  wine  by  using  a  fruit  which 
will  thrive  under  local  conditions. 

THK  FRENCH  CIDER  DISTRICTS. 

In  France  the  grape  will  not  thrive  in  open  culture  to  any  extent  in 
the  northwestern  and  northern  provinces.  Hence  the  provinces  of 
Brittany,  Normandy,  and  Picardy,  lying  in  this  part  of  France,  are  the 
chief  seat  of  the  cider  industry.  These  lie  along  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
the  English  Channel,  and  the  borders  of  Belgium. 

Normandy  is  in  fact  the  principal  cider  country  of  France,  and  it  is 
here  that  one  finds  the  industry  best  developed  in  all  its  details.  Also 
in  this  province  has  been  developed  a  large  number  of  seedling  varie- 
ties of  apples  with  the  sole  idea  of  cider  making,  and,  though  the  face 
of  the  country  is  often  a  forest  of  apple  trees,  one  never  finds  dessert 
or  culinary  varieties  growing  in  these  open  plantations.  The  idea  of 
commercial  apple  growing,  as  developed  in  America,  is  wholly  unknown 
to  these  people.  If  a  proprietor  desires  table  fruit  it  is  grown  in  his 
garden  on  walls  or  trellises,  or  on  the  walls  of  his  residence  or  out- 
buildings, always  in  the  form  of  cordons,  espaliers,  etc.,  never  in  open 
field  culture.  In  fact,  the  orchard  culture  proper  is  for  cider  making, 
just  as  farther  south  in  France  the  country  is  in  places  occupied  with 
vineyards  for  wine  making. 

The  varieties  are  seedlings  from  the  apples  grown  here  for  centuries. 
It  is  only  during  the  last  forty  years  that  a  study  has  been  made  of 
these  various  seedling  varieties,  and  certain  ones  have  been  selected 
for  propagation  because  of  vigor,  productiveness,  and  qualities  desired 
in  the  processes  of  cider  making.  One  finds  certain  varieties  every- 


22 

where  mentioned  as  the  leading  sorts,  and  these  are  largely  propa- 
gated in  nurseries. 

The  orchards  everywhere  have  the  appearance  so  characteristic  of 
seedlings  of  Pyrus  malm  (Plate  III),  and  do  not  take  on  the  character- 
istic appearance  of  American  cultivated  orchards.  The  trees  are  often 
scrubby,  rough,  and  thorny,  and  so  overgrown  with  moss  and  mis- 
tletoe that  they  seem  to  tit  in  well  with  the  surroundings.  The  climate 
is  oceanic,  moist,  and  often  dull  from  cloudiness,  but  never  subject  to 
great  extremes  of  temperature.  Much  of  the  strictly  orchard  area 
in  Calvados  is  found  on  a  moderately  elevated  plateau,  characterized 
by  low,  undulating  ranges  of  hills,  with  decidedly  moist  valleys. 

In  this  connection  some  extracts  are  quoted  from  a  work  by  M.  de 
Beaumont  on  Normandy,  in  which  he  speaks  especially  of  Calvados, 
the  department  in  which,  perhaps,  better  cider  is  made  than  in  any 
other  of  France: 

CALVADOS.  . 

General  aspect. — Calvados  lies  with  an  exposure  to  the  north  and  extends  to  the 
hills  of  the  Department  of  Orne  on  the  south,  and  comprises  many  valleys  and 
extensive  plateaus.  These  valleys,  which  are  watered  by  six  streams  flowing  from 
south  to  north,  are  separated  from  each  other  by  chains  of  slightly  elevated  hills 
which  decrease  in  height  to  the  shore,  where  they  are  suddenly  transformed  into 
high  cliffs  of  30  to  120  meters  (100  to  400  feet).  Thriving,  fertile,  rich  in  prairies, 
this  district  offers  many  aspects  of  a  charming  country. 

The  hills,  the  geological  composition  of  which  is  very  far  from  uniform,  and  which 
do  not  present  the  same  characters  in  any  two  places,  form  three  very  distinct  natural 
regions — the  cretaceous,  the  calcareous,  and  the,  granitic. 

The  first  comprises  the  eastern  part  of  the  department.  Chalky  formations  dom- 
inate in  the  country  known  as  ''le  Pays  d'Auge,"  situated  between  the  frontiers  of 
Eure  and  the  valley  of  the  Dives.  The  arrondissements  of  Pont  1'  Eveque  and  Lisieux, 
almost  entirely  included  in  these  limits,  present  vast  chalky  plateaus  cut  by  deep 
valleys,  showing  a  clayey  or  argillaceous  deposit  overlying  the  rock. 

The  second  region  where  the  limestone  (great  oolite,  inferior  oolite,  marls,  and 
sandstone)  predominates,  includes  the  arrondissement  of  Caen  and  a  portion  of  those 
of  Falaise  and  Bayeux. 

All  that  portion  of  the  Department  of  Calvados  which  comprises  the  division  of 
Vire,  the  southern  part  of  Bayeux,  the  western  part  of  Falaise,  and  the  southern  part 
of  Caen,  under  the  name  of  Bocage,  has  a  peculiar  aspect.  Its  granites,  gray  and 
reddish  in  color,  its  schists,  its  arid  plateaus  scarred  with  great  blocks  of  rocks,  its 
houses  constructed  of  materials  of  somber  color,  all  present  a  rather  melancholy 
aspect. 

Climate. — Calvados,  which  is  situated  on  the  border  of  the  sea  and  has  no  consid- 
erable elevations,  enjoys  a  much  milder  climate  than  its  geographical  situation  would 
warrant.  It  is  part  of  the  belt  where  the  Seine  or  Parisian  climate  predominates, 
thus  named  because  it  is  peculiar  to  the  basin  of  the  Seine,  and  particularly  to  Paris. 
In  its  general  characteristics  this  climate  is  mild,  but  at  the  same  time  humid  and 
variable. 

In  spite  of  its  low  elevation  and  the  frequent  rains  (one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
days  in  a  year)  maintaining  a  chilly  humid  atmosphere,  the  climate  of  Calvados  is 
very  healthy,  this  department  occupying  the  first  rank  in  the  relative  longevity  in 
France.  The  western  part  of  the  canton  of  Tsigny  and  the  country  situated  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Sougnes  and  the  Dives  are  less  favored  than  the  rest  of  the  department. 


Bui.  71,  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 


PLATE  III. 


TYPES  OF  CIDER-APPLE  TREES  IN  NORMANDY,  FRANCE. 


23 

The  spring  here  is  cold  and  rainy,  the  fine  season  lasts  for  only  a  month  and  a  half 
from  June  into  August. 

The  annual  mean  temperature  of  Caen  is  a  little  higher  than  that  of  Paris,  which 
is  10.6°  C.  The  winter  on  an  average  is  less  cold  than  at  Paris  and  the  summer  is 
not  so  warm.  The'  predominating  winds  come  from  the  west,  north,  and  south. 
Violent  storms  often  desolate  the  fields  at  the  time  of  the  equinoxes.  It  rains  oftener 
on  the  border  than  in  the  interior  of  the  department.  The  rainfall  is  74  cm.  (29 
inches)  annually,  being  not  quite  equal  to  the  average  in  France,  which  is  77  cm. 
(30  inches). « 

A  student  of  the  geology  of  Normandy,  M.  de  Caumont,  has  pub- 
lished a  remarkable  statement  in  regard  to  the  influence  of  the  soil 
upon  the  quality  of  these  ciders  in  which  he  says: 

The  quality  of  the  ciders  produced  upon  different  soils  shows  very  great  differences, 
as  those  who  use  these  ciders  have  been  able  to  determine  by  comparing  the  prod- 
ucts of  several  cantons.  These  ciders,  like  wines,  are  more  or  less  strong,  and  one 
is  able  to  preserve  them  a  greater  or  less  time,  according  to  the  soil  upon  which  they 
were  produced. 

If  my  observations  have  not  deceived  me,  the  presence  of  fragments  of  quartz  and 
silicious  (flint)  rocks  in  the  earth,  is  very  favorable  to  the  production  of  a  good  cider, 
that  which  above  all  has  the  most  agreeable  taste.  Therefore,  the  best  cider  prod- 
ucts in  the  arrondissements  of  Bayeux  and  of  Caen  are  produced  upon  the  mottled 
sandstone  soils,  earths  covered  very  often  with  a  great  quantity  of  alluvium,  with 
nodules  of  quartz  and  flint,  or  upon  the  hard  limestones  and  lower  oolite  soils  of  a 
limestone  and  clayey  character,  which  are  covered  up  themselves  with  fragments  of 
quartz  and  flint,  as  near  Cartigny  and  the  environs  of  Tsigny,  and  several  communes 
of  the  cantons  of  Crevise,  Littry,  etc. 

In  the  arrondissements  of  Lisieux  and  Pont  FEveque  the  best  productions  are  taken 
from  the  chalk  formations  covered  with  an  argillaceous  formation  carrying  flint 
nodules  in  quantity.  *  *  * 

These  numerous  observations  lead  us  also  to  think  that  the  apples  harvested  from 
a  soil  where  lime  is  in  excess,  as  upon  the  great  oolite  plains  of  Caen  and  of  Falaise, 
are  less  sugary  than  these  others  which  grow  upon  an  argillaceous  soil.  The  cider 
produced  from  fruits  grown  upon  our  limestone  plains  becomes  acid  at  an  earlier 
stage,  and  it  is  very  inferior  in  quality  to  that  made  at  Bessin  and  the  regions  of  the 
chalk  substrata  like  Lisieux  and  Pont  1'Eveque.  I  have  made  these  observations 
not  only  in  Calvados,  but  in  the  commune  of  Orne,  where  the  regions  vary  equally 
as  much  in  their  geologic  characters  as  in  Calvados. « 

At  Danestal,  in  Calvados,  some  days  were  spent  during  November 
observing  the  work  of  the  small  landed  proprietors  or  peasants  (Plate 
IV),  and  as  this  country  is  typical  of  the  very  best  cider-producing 
area  of  France,  the  soil  was  carefully  examined  and  its  agricultural 
value  ascertained. 

The  soil  on  warm  southern  and  southeastern  slopes  was  very  rich  in 
the  first  reaches  above  the  streams,  but  grew  thinner  very  markedly 
toward  the  summits  of  the  low  hills.  The  best  soil  was  a  rich  brown 
loam,  showing  abundant  nodules  of  flint,  and  at  a  depth  of  12  inches 
or  more  a  grayish  sand  became  predominant.  Along  the  upper  slopes 
a  gray  soft  sandstone  showed  occasionally  and  seemed  to  dip  down 
into  the  hills  as  though  erosion  had  carried  away  what  was  once  the 

«  Translation  from  manuscript  notes  furnished  by  M.  Truelle. 


24 

higher  levels.  The  abundance  of  flint  nodules  was  everywhere  a  char- 
acteristic of  the  best  lands. 

The  best  exposures  were  generally  planted  in  fruit  trees  and  covered 
with  heavy  sod,  most  of  the  orchards  being  used  as  pastures.  There 
was  very  little  land  under  cultivation  in  crops. 

•The  cold  slopes  were  mostly  thin  lands  and  often  seepy,  and  where 
set  in  orchards  were  decidedly  inferior  to  southern  slopes.  The  uplands 
varied  in  value  from  500  to  1,200  francs  per  hectare  ($40  to  $100  per 
acre),  and  the  richest  valley  lands  were  held  at  4,000  to  5,000  francs 
per  hectare  ($300  to  $400  per  acre).  These  values  lead  one  to  wonder 
how  anyone  could  carry  on  such  apparently  careless  culture  and  con- 
tinue to  hold  lands  of  such  value. 

THE  GERMAN  CIDER  DISTRICTS. 

In  Germany  as  in  France  most  of  my  time  was  given  to  specific 
investigations  at  those  places  which  offered  the  greatest  opportunity 
for  practical  and  scientific  work,  viz,  at  centers  where  the  bulk  of  the 
cider  is  made;  hence,  the  Wiirtemberg  cider  districts  of  Germany 
were  not  inspected,  but  the  related  districts  of  Switzerland  and  a  part 
of  southern  and  central  Bavaria  were  observed.  In  these  nothing 
worthjr  of  special  mention  was  found.  Everywhere,  however,  the 
wonderful  opportunities  for  development  which  would  be  seized  upon 
by  a  more  versatile  people  were  conspicuous. 

At  Frankfort-on-the-Main  is  found  the  center  of  the  German  cider 
industry.  Here  two  firms  alone  were  making  over  1,300,000  gallons 
of  cider  annually;  and  from  Frankfort  to  Wiesbaden,  along  the  slopes 
of  the  Taunus  Mountains,  one  finds  a  continuous  apple  country  with 
numerous  small  establishments  for  the  manufacture  of  cider.  The 
industry  here  overlaps  into  the  wine  country,  or  Rhinegau  proper, 
and  extends  even  down  to  Schierstein,  almost  in  sight  of  the  world- 
famous  Johannisburg  wine  district.  But  nowhere  in  Germany  was 
found  any  area  so  peculiarly  and  distinctively  a  cider-producing  coun- 
try as  in  Calvados,  France. 

In  German}^  the  tendency  seems  to  be  away  from  the  small  peasant 
proprietor,  and  toward  a  factory  system  founded  upon  the  very  best 
and  latest  investigations  of  modern  science,  while  in  France  this  is  not 
nearly  so  much  the  case.  Possibly  this  fact,  coupled  with  the  well- 
known  orderly  and  methodical  habits  of  the  German,  may  account  for 
the  fact  previously  stated  in  this  report,  that  in  Germany  standards  of 
quality  are  better  recognized  than  in  any  other  European  country.  As 
already  noted,  the  German  considers  his  product  a  wine,  calls  it  so,  and 
makes  it  by  certain  definite  methods. 

The  only  apple-growing  districts  of  Germany  which  were  examined 
were  (1)  the  Taunus  country  in  Prussia,  stretching  from  Frankfort  to 
Wiesbaden,  and  (2)  the  Rhinegau,  which  extends  from  below  Wiesba- 
den to  where  the  Rhine  breaks  through  the  Niederwald  below  Rude- 


Bui.  71,  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 


PLATE  IV. 


HOMES  OF  PEASANT  CIDER  MAKERS  IN  NORMANDY,  FRANCE. 


25 

sheim.  The  Rhinegau  is  not,  properly  speaking,  an  apple-growing 
district,  as  here  the  grape  overtops  everything  in  importance,  but  I 
found  the  cider  industry  well  represented  as  far  down  the  Rhine  as 
Schierstein. 

The  Taunus'  region  is  said  by  well-posted  German  students  to  be 
the  best  apple  district  in  Germaiw.  This  district  is  not  large,  and 
comprises  the  western  and  southwestern  slopes  of  the  Taunus  Moun- 
tains. The  orchards  occur  occasionally  even  down  on  the  more  level 
drift  soils  of  the  floor  of  the  Rhine  Valley,  but  usually  the  flat  lands 
along  the  Rhine  are  occupied  by  cultivated  farm  crops,  or  where  spurs 
of  the  foothills  jut  down  into  the  Rhine  plain  they  are  oftener  occupied 
by  vineyards  than  by  orchards. 

The  Taunus  Mountains  are  not  high,  being  about  1,300  or  1,400  feet 
at  Cronberg,  and  nowhere  in  this  district  do  they  rise  above  2,000 
feet.  The}T  slope  gradually  to  the  foothills  and  alluvial  lands  of  the 
lower  levels,  presenting  gentle  grassy  slopes  and  rolling  uplands, 
generally  easy  to  till  and  presenting  no  difficulties  whatever  for 
orcharding.  The  Rhine  plain  has  here  an  elevation  averaging  about 
300  feet  above  sea  level. 

The  higher  levels  of  the  Taunus  show  some  outcrops  of  shales,  over- 
lying igneous  rocks  of  great  variety,  as  gneiss,  mica,  and  feldspathic 
schists.  The  slopes  occupied  by  the  great  orchards  show  a  clayey 
soil,  with  much  gravel  intermingled,  and,  while  not  very  rich,  good 
care  has  kept  it  well  supplied  with  humus  and  in  good  condition. 
The  trees  are  of  great  size  and  vigor,  and  so  far  as  observed,  the 
fruit  growers  do  not  have  to  contend  with  the  numerous  insect  and 
fungous  troubles  met  in  this  country.  The  exposure  is  ideal  for  fruit 
growing  in  a  country  so  far  north;  and,  in  general  characteristics, 
this  would  be  considered  a  typically  fine  orchard  section. 

The  Taunus  country  has  climatic  and  soil  conditions  strikingly  dif- 
ferent from  those  found  in  the  French  orchard  country.  This  German 
district  has  a  continental  climate  more  like  that  found  in  America 
than  that  of  France,  and  the  whole  environment  is  essentially  like  that 
of  many  American  orchard  regions.  The  character  of  the  apples 
grown  and  their  chemical  composition  are  much  closer  to  American 
types  than  to  French.  Many  varieties  are  grown  for  culinary  and 
dessert  uses,  and  the  low-grade  fruit,  along  with  some  distinctly  cider 
apples,  is  employed  for  cider-making  purposes. 

In  some  places  the  orchards  cover  the  hillsides,  all  types,  ages,  and 
qualities  intermingled  without  much  system.  And  here  was  seen  for 
the  first  time  the  giant  trees  of  Pyrus  (Sorbus)  domestica,  whose  fruits 
are  used  to  mix  with  ordinary  apples  to  produce  the  highest  grades  of 
cider.  The  lowland  orchards  did  not  have  the  vigorous  appearance 
of  those  on  higher  levels,  and  often  those  in  flat  fields  were  heavily 
cropped  under  the  trees,  while  the  uplands  were  usually  in  grass. 


26 

That  the  quality  of  the  German  fruit  is  quite  inferior  for  cider 
making  to  that  of  the  best  French  fruit  seems  to  be  evident  from 
chemical  data  given  in  this  report.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that 
the  studies  of  the  fruit  and  the  ciders  made  therefrom  in  certain 
districts  have  been  carried  out  with  us  much  care,  from  the  labora- 
tory point  of  view,  in  Germany  as  in  France,  though  German  factory 
work  seemed  quite  superior,  as  remarked  above.  There  are  certainly 
some  very  important  points  awaiting  investigation  in  regard  to  the 
effect  of  soil  and  climate  upon  the  composition  of  apples  and  the  result- 
ant qualities  of  ciders  made  therefrom.  A  comparative  study  of  this 
sort  on  the  German  and  French  fruit  would  be  interesting  and  yield 
data  of  much  practical  importance. 

THE  ENGLISH  CIDER  DISTRICTS. 

The  wonderful  variety  of  geological  formations  occurring  in  such  a 
small  country  as  England  confuses  the  stranger  and  renders  observa- 
tions somewhat  difficult.  However,  after  traveling  twice  over  the 
chief  fruit  sections  of  the  country,  the  writer  was  able  to  discrim- 
inate somewhat  as  to  the  character  of  the  orchard  lands. 

The  best  development  of  orcharding  observed  was  in  Hereford- 
shire, Worcestershire,  and  Gloucestershire.  The  second  best  was  in 
Somersetshire,  though  Devonshire  which  has  a  rather  better  reputation 
than  Somersetshire,  was  not  visited.  The  general  statement  current 
in  England  is  that  the  orchard  counties  are  Herefordshire.  Devon- 
shire, and  Somersetshire,  in  the  order  named,  but  certainly  portions 
of  Worcestershire  and  Gloucestershire  should  not  be  omitted  from 
this  category. 

In  the  excellent  monograph  of  Dr.  Henry  Graves  Bull,  of  Hereford- 
shire, on  the  Vintage  Fruits,"  he  points  out  that  in  the  first  two 
counties  named  the  good  orchard  lands  are  situated  on  like  geological 
formations,  viz,  the  old  red  sandstone.  In  Herefordshire  the  great  vigor 
and  f  ruitfulness  of  the  old  orchards,  on  the  fine  rolling  red  lands,  were 
specially  noticeable,  and  the  ciders  made,  especially  at  Hereford  and 
at  Hellens,  near  Dymock,  were  as  tine  as  one  of  ten  finds.  Equal  praise 
can,  however,  be  given  to  the  fine  cider  and  perry  made  on  the  estate 
of  Lord  Sudley,  near  Winchecombe,  Gloucestershire.  But  as  soon  as 
one  mounts  the  Cotswolds  he  is  aware  that  he  is  off  the  fruit  lands. 

The  apple  growing  seen  in  Somersetshire  did  not  impress  one  favora- 
bly, and  the  soil  did  not  seem  to  produce  anything  like  the  fine  trees 
observed  in  the  more  northern  counties  mentioned.  It  was  rare,  indeed, 
that  the  orchard  plantings  seemed  to  be  placed  with  care,  and  the 
impression  made  was  that  as  an  industiy  there  was  no  modern  devel- 
opment perceptible.  As  to  orchard  growing  in  England,  the  best  tech- 

«A  popular  treatise  based  on  Dr.  Bull's  great  monograph,  The  Herefordshire 
Pomona. 


nieal  work  seen  was  thtit  of  the  Toddington  Orchard  Company  at  Lord 
Sudley's  place  in  Gloucestershire. 

Though  there  is  much  small  fruit  grown  in  Kent,  one  of  the  famous 
fruit  counties  of  England,  very  few  orchards  of  an}'  note  were  found, 
and  cider  making  is  almost  unknown.  There  are,  however,  in  the 
county  good,  strong,  retentive  loam  soils,  which  carry  abundance  of 
flint  nodules  and  overlie  chalk  formations,  as  in  the  cider  districts  of 
France. 

In  England,  as  in  Germany,  very  little  attention  has  been  given  to 
the  development  of  cider  fruits  as  such,  though  in  the  former  there 
are  numerous  good  varieties  to  start  from.  The  bulk  of  the  product 
is  made  from  the  refuse  of  those  varieties  which  are  grown  for  table 
and  culinary  uses.  Yet  distinctly  cider  apples  are  constantly  met  with, 
and  a  few  cider  varieties  have  recently  been  imported  from  Normandy 
and  are  gaining  in  favor. 

No  definite  statistics  are  available  as  to  the  production  of  cider  in 
England,  but  Hon.  C.  W.  Kadcliffe  Cooke.  in  a  recent  article  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  draws  the  conclusion  that  the  total  annual  prod- 
uct is  not  less  than  100.000,000  gallons,  having  a  maximum  value  of 
±•3.000.000  sterling,  (nearly  $15,000,000).« 

CIDER  APPLES. 

It  is  doubtless  correct  to  say  that  there  are  few  distinctly  cider 
fruits  grown  in  the  United  States  at  the  present  time.  Formerly 
this  class  of  apples  received  more  attention.  Scions  of  European 
cider  apples  have  been  distributed  of  late  years  by  the  I' .  S.  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  but  there  are  as  yet  no  orchards  of  apples  or 
pears  grown  distinctly  for  the  manufacture  of  cider  and  perry  known 
to  the  writer.  In  this  regard  the  United  State-  i-  at  present  in 
pretty  much  the  same  category  as  Germany.  England  is  somewhat 
better  off.  as  one  tinds  there  a  few  distinctly  cider  apples  and  perry 
pears  in  cultivation.  France  has,  however,  made  long  strides  in  this 
direction,  as  already  noted. 

It  is  of  prime  importance  to  consider  here  what  constitutes  a  cider 
fruit,  and  compare  the  products  of  several  foreign  countries  with  that 
of  our  own  in  this  regard. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  making  of  cider  by  the  landed 
proprietors  and  peasants  of  France  for  many  centuries  from  the  seed- 
lings of  Normandy.  Brittany,  and  Picardy  may  be  credited  with  fix- 
ing the  attention  of  the  more  critical  students  and  cultivators  of  recent 
years  upon  the  best  characteristics  of  the  French  cider  fruits.  In 
these  ancient  seedling  orchards  and  their  descendants  have  been  deter- 
mined empirically  the  qualities  which  distinguish  cider  fruits  (pornrnes 
a  cidre)  from  table  fruits  (pommes  j\  couteau)  in  France. 

a  Nineteenth  Century,  August,  1901,  p.  276. 


28 

The  work  of  the  past  thirty  years  in  France  has  been  directed  to  the 
task  of  sifting  from  these  hundreds  of  seedlings  (pommes  sauvage) 
those  which  best  embody  the  desirable  chemical  constituents  and  which 
also  show  the  other  desirable  characteristics  of  hardiness,  vigor,  pro- 
ductiveness, proper  season  of  blooming  and  maturity  of  fruit,  adapt- 
ability to  certain  soils,  keeping  qualities,  etc. 

Among  those  who  have  led  in  the  critical  study  of  cider  fruits  of 
France  might  be  named  Messrs.  Hauchecorne,  de  Boutteville,  Truelle, 
Lechartier,  Herissant,  Power,  Andouard,  Hubert,  Beaurepaire,  Sequin, 
and  many  others.  A  greater  amount  of  work  by  far  has  been  devoted 
to  a  study  of  the  chemical  composition  of  varieties,  their  description, 
classification,  etc. ,  than  to  strictly  experimental  researches  upon  cider- 
making  problems  proper.  It  seems  that  little  is  now  to  be  desired,  so 
far  as  relates  to  analyses,  classification  of  varieties,  etc.,  but  that  much 
is  wanting  in  the  French  work  relating  to  real  studies  of  soil  and  cli- 
matic influences  and  the  practical  problems  of  handling  and  working 
up  the  crop.  Much  has,  it  is  true,  been  written  on  these  problems, 
but  there  is  a  dearth  of  facts  in  such  literature  as  is  obtainable. 

The  French  cultivators  have  now  a  great  number  of  what  appear  to 
be  the  best  cider  fruits  in  the  world  ready  at  their  hands,  and  they 
owe  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  unselfish  work  of  the  gentlemen 
named  above  for  their  often  unremunerated  critical  studies,  made  at 
the  expense  of  much  time  and  labor.  In  this  regard  M.  Truelle,  a 
pharmacist,  of  Trouville,  Calvados,  is  perhaps  the  most  shining 
example. 

There  have  been  no  such  elaborate  studies  made  of  German  cider 
fruits,  nor  of  the  low  grades  of  commercial  fruits  so  largely  used  in 
cider  making  in  that  country,  although  chemical  data  on  the  German 
fruits  is  not  wanting.  Professor  Kulisch  has  made  at  the  Royal 
School  of  Geisenheim  somewhat  extensive  chemical  examinations  of 
varieties  of  apples. 

In  England  until  quite  recently  no  critical  study  of  cider  fruits  was 
known,  but  now,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Bath  and  West  Societ}7, 
supplemented  by  a  royal  grant  in  aid,  Mr.  F.  J.  Lloyd,  of  London,  is 
making  chemical  studies  which  have  already  advanced  to  a  stage 
where  they  furnish  very  useful  data  for  comparison. 

IMPORTANT    CHARACTERISTICS    OF    CIDER   APPLES. 

The  French  students  of  this  subject  and  also  the  French  manufac- 
turers of  cider  rank  the  value  of  varieties  in  accordance  with  their 
content  of  (1)  sugar,  (2)  tannin,  (3)  mucilage,  and  (4)  acid.  They  also 
insist  upon  the  fruits  being  of  fine  flavor  and  fragrant.  To  a  stranger 
the  most  striking  characteristic  of  many  of  the  French  varieties  is 
their  delicate,  bitter-sweet  flavor,  and  the  powerful  and  peculiar  odor 
which  they  exhale  when  lying  in  bulk  ripening. 


29 

The  writer  can  not  refrain  from  observing  that  apparently  the 
French  attach  entirely  too  slight  importance  to  the  acid  content  of 
cider  fruits.  French  apple  must  sometimes  turns  black  as  ink  in  the 
presence  of  air  because  of  rapid  oxidation  of  the  tannin;  yet  it  is  easily 
shown  that  a  higher  acid  content  will  prevent  this.  From  some  state- 
ments made  it  would  appear  that  they  consider  0.1  to  0.2  per  cent  of 
acid  sufficient. 

The  Germans  rank  the  chemical  constituents  in  importance  as  fol- 
lows: (1)  sugar,  (2)  acids,  and  (3)  tannin.  They  pay  practically  no 
attention  to  determining  mucilaginous  substances.  Their  apples  are 
so  different  in  character  (as  will  be  seen  in  later  discussion)  that  these 
constituent  elements  may  not  be  strongly  developed  in  them.  They 
also  claim  that  nitrogenous  and  mineral  compounds  are  important  as 
nourishment  for  the  yeast  organisms.  The  acid  content  is  considered 
important  in  Germany,  and  at  Geisenheim  the  percentage  of  acid 
demanded  is  0.6  to  0.8  per  cent.  While  they  insist  upon  the  import- 
ance of  tannin,  they  do  not  rate  it  so  highly  as  the  French. 

No  English  student  of  the  subject  appears  to  have  discussed  these 
points  from  an  original  standpoint.  However,  Thomas  Andrew 
Knight  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the  value  of  the  densimeter  as 
an  instrument  to  test  the  quality  of  must. 

In  the  United  States  we  have  no  technical  literature  of  any  moment 
covering  this  subject.  It  appears  that  Americans  have  proceeded  on 
the  idea  that  the  sugars  are  the  only  substance  of  prime  importance  in 
an  apple  must.  Tannin  appears  to  be  regarded  as  objectionable.  Acid 
is  apparently  regarded  as  an  element  which  it  is  necessary  to  eliminate 
as  far  as  possible.  The  character  of  our  fruits  may  have  had  something 
to  do  with  this,  but  it  is  rare  that  our  fruits  show  too  much  acid,  and 
it  is  more  to  be  noted  that  they  seldom  or  never  show  enough  of  the 
very  important  element,  tannin. 

/Sugar  content  of  the  fruit. — During  the  process  of  fermentation 
cane  sugar  and  possibly  some  of  the  pectose  bodies  are  converted  into 
fermentable  sugars,  and  practically  the  total  sugar  content  of  the  apple 
is  thus  rendered  subject  to  the  breaking  down  process  called  fermen- 
tation. Pasteur's  statement  of  the  products  resulting  from  the  fer- 
mentation of  fruit  sugars  per  100  parts  is  as  follows: 

Per  cent. 

Carbon  dioxid  gas  (CO.,) 46.  67 

Alcohol 48.  46 

Glycerin 3.  23 

Succinic  acid (il 

Matter  consumed  by  ferment  organisms 1. 03 

While  this  statement  is  now  disputed  in  some  particulars,  it  is  used 
here  to  indicate  the  probable  results  which  may  be  expected  from 
complete  fermentation  of  the  sugar  content  of  any  fruit  juice.  It  is, 
then,  from  the  sugars  that  all  the  alcohol  is  derived,  and  also  the  car 


30 

bon  dioxid  gas,  the  first  being  that  which  gives  the  strength  to  the 
beverage,  the  second  that  which  renders  it  sparkling  and  piquant  if 
retained  in  the  liquor.  The  glycerin  helps  to  give  body  and  flavor 
to  the  liquor.  It  is  derived  partly  from  the  alcohol  and  doubtless  in 
part  from  the  organic  acids  present  in  the  must. 

Tannin,  or  tannic  acid,  in  the  fruit. — This  is  the  substance  so  readily 
recognized  in  unripe  persimmons  or  in  the  bark  tissues  of  oak  trees. 
In  fruits  it  tends  to  give  a  bitter  taste  and  to  pucker  the  mucous  mem- 
branes of  mouth  and  throat.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  relatively  large 
amount  of  this  constituent  which  gives  to  the  bitter-sweet  apples  of 
France  their  peculiar  character.  This  element  is  of  great  importance 
in  the  composition  of  any  fruit  for  wine  and  cider  making  purposes, 
because  of  its  action  in  coagulating  albuminous  elements  in  the  must, 
thereby  assisting  to  clarify  the  liquor,  its  wholesomeness  to  the  system, 
and  its  effect  in  conserving  a  certain  portion  of  the  sugar  from  too 
rapid  fermentation,  thus  adding  very  materially  to  the  soundness  and 
keeping  qualities  of  the  beverage.  The  writer  is  inclined  to  agree  with 
the  French  that  this  element  is  more  important  than  the  acid.  Three 
to  five  parts  per  1,000  of  tannin  (0.3  to  0.5  per  cent)  is  a  sufficient 
quantity.  American  fruits  fall  far  below  this  standard. 

Acids  in  the  fruit. — These  exist  in  the  apple  and  pear  chiefly  as 
malic  acid,  but  possibly  also  as  tartaric  to  a  small  extent.  Their 
importance  in  a  cider  fruit  is  very  considerable.  If  acid  is  not  present 
in  sufficient  quantity,  the  oxidation  of  the  tannin  will  be  so  rapid  as  to 
turn  the  must  black,  or  blackening  may  even  occur  in  the  finished  cider. 
Also  the  refreshing  quality  of  a  cider  as  a  summer  beverage  is  largely 
due  to  its  acid  content.  American  apples  usually  contain  sufficient 
acid. 

Mucilage  in  fruit. — The  practice  of  determining  this  substance  as 
mucilage  in  apple  must  seems  only  to  be  followed  by  the  French  chem- 
ists. Whether  their  determinations  are  comparable  with  the  deter- 
minations of  pectin  by  other  chemists  can  not  be  here  stated.  These 
substances,  give  body  to  the  cider  and  are  important  constituents  of 
good  cider  fruits. 

COMPARISON   OF   CIDER   APPLES. 

FRENCH    STANDARDS. 

It  is  a  matter  of  unquestionable  importance  to  compare  the  fruits  of 
the  three  prominent  European  cider-producing  countries  with  one 
another  and  with  our  home  fruits  as  to  chemical  composition.  The 
French  students  of  the  subject  have  attempted  to  set  standards  by 
which  varieties  should  be  selected.  The  following  is  quoted  from  M. 
Hauchecorne  ("Le  Cidre"  p.  9),  in  which  he  gives  what  he  has  deter- 
mined to  be  an  average  composition  based  upon  analyses  of 
French  varieties: 


31 

Specific  gravity 1.  067  to  1.  080 

Water per  cent. .     80 

Sugar  (fermentable) do 17. 3 

Tannic  acid do 5 

Mudlage  or  pectose do 1.2 

Free  acids  (organic)  calculated  as  sulphuric do.  ...         .  107 

Earthy  matters,  etc do.  .  893 


Total do 100.  000 

The  same  author  continues  (p.  119): 

Cider  apples  designed  for  making  a  beverage  of  superior  quality,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  its  hygienic  quality  and  of  its  conservation  in  a  commercial  condition,  should 
be  prepared  from  fruits  which  yield  a  must  of  1.075  density  in  order  to  obtain  a 
sufficient  percentage  of  alcohol. 

( )ne  should  search  persistently  for  varieties  which  show  at  least  5  parts  of  tannin 
per  1,000  and  12  to  15  parts  of  mucilage,  this  latter  being  desirable  because  of  its 
value  to  give  smoothness  and  body  to  the  beverage.  The  acidity  should  not  be  less 
than  1.071  parts  per  1,000  in  order  to  insure  a  good  fermentation,  and  the  fruits 
should  be  fragrant. 

At  the  International  Congress  on  Cider  Fruits  held  at  Paris  October 
11-13,  1900,  M.  de  Messenge  de  Beaurepaire,  in  a  paper  entitled 
"Principles  which  should  serve  as  a  basis  for  determination  of  the  best 
varieties  of  cider  fruits,'1  enunciated  the  following  general  principles: 

Varieties  should  be  divided  into  four  categories,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
beverage  desired,  as  follows: 

1.  Varieties  of  apples  or  pears  destined  to  make  a  delicate  quality  of  cider  or  pe.rry. 

2.  Varieties  destined  for  the  manufacture  of  champagne  cider  or  perry. 

:>.  Varieties  destined  to  make  a  full-bodied,  strong  alcoholic  cider  or  perry. 
4.  Varieties  for  distillation  of  brandy. 

To  whatever  use  one  intends  to  put  the  fruit,  all  good  varieties  should  satisfy  the 
four  following  conditions: 

(1)  Good  flavor  of  pulp  and  juice. 

(2)  A  sufficient  quantity  of  juice,  falling  not  below  55  per  cent  of  weight  of  fruit. 

(3)  Good  color  of  juice,  above  all  with  the  apple,  but  not  so  important  for  the 
pear,  as  the  juice  of  the  latter  is  often  quite  pale. 

(4)  Juice  easy  to  extract  from  the  pulp. 

He  proceeds  to  particularize  as  to  the  chemical  qualities  of  each 
category  of  fruits  as  follows: 

1.  Cider  apples  and  perry  pears,  for  a  fine  and  delicate  beverage,  should  show  a 
medium  density,  i.  e.,  ranging  from  1.057  to  1.064,  and  not  exceeding  1.069;  sugar 
content,  medium,    12.5  to  14.5;   tannin  (maximum),  0.3  per  cent;   flavor,  sweet, 
slightly  bitter.     The  distinctive  qualities  should  be  a  clearly  defined,  delicate  aroma 
and  a  sugary  flavor. 

2.  Varieties  designed  for  champagne  should  be  as  above  except  that  there  should 
be  absolutely  no  bitter  taste. 

3.  Varieties  destined  to  make  a  strong  alcoholic  beverage  should  show  density, 
1.065  and  above;  sugar,  14.3  per  cent  and  above;  tannin  (minimum),  0.2  per  cent 
and  above,  the  more  the  better;  flavor,  unimportant,  except  that  it  must  not  be 
acid;  strong  and  penetrating  aroma;   the  controlling  qualities   being  richness   in 
sugar  and  tannin. 


32 

4.  Varieties  destined  for  making  distilled  liquor  should  show  a  minimum  density 
of  1.070  and  15.5  per  cent  of  sugar,  the  richer  the  better.  The  other  characters  noted 
do  not  play  an  important  role  in  this  category. « 

If  the  density  and  sugar  content  given  in  the  first  category  are  only 
medium  for  French  fruits,  in  what  category  can  one  place  German  and 
many  American  and  English  cider  fruits  ?  The  French  have  adopted 
a  high  standard  in  quality  of  fruit,  and  the  chemical  analyses  reported 
by  the  numerous  investigators  bear  them  out  in  this  position.  Do 
these  qualities  result  from  peculiarities  of  soil,  or  have  these  century- 
old  seedling  races  of  French  apples  acquired  certain  characteristics 
which  can  now  be  perpetuated  in  other  lands  by  ordinary  propagation  ? 
Can  their  seedlings,  when  grown  in  other  countries,  become  the  founda- 
tion stock  of  seedling  races  of  apples  which  will  show  such  wonderful 
richness  in  saccharine  matter  and  tannin  as  their  parent  stocks? 

After  thirty  years  of  study  along  what  these  French  investigators 
seem  to  consider  preliminary  lines,  but  which  has  yielded  already  the 
best  technical  literature  in  the  world  on  the  subject,  the  Association 
Francaise  Pomologique  appointed  a  commission,  composed  of  its  best 
scholars  and  cultivators,  to  undertake  a  critical  study  of  al1  the  data, 
and  also  to  conduct  an  original  investigation  of  all  promising  French 
cider  fruits  with  a  view  to  correcting  the  nomenclature  and  establish- 
ing a  standard  list  with  authentic  information  as  to  quality  and  char- 
acter of  fruit  and  character  of  plant,  so  that  cultivators  shall  have  :i 
definite  guide  to  aid  them  in  making  plantings.  The  fruit  of  each 
variety  selected  for  the  standard  list  Is  reproduced  in  color  for  the 
bulletin  of  the  association  and  modeled  for  the  permanent  collection. 
After  four  years  of  study  this  commission  has  made  considerable  prog- 
ress. On  its  organization  at  Mans  in  1898,  the  commission  adopted 
the  following  outline  of  points  on  which  the  varieties  of  fruits  should 
be  judged: 

(1)  Vigor  of  plant. 

(2)  Natural  resistance  of  same  to  fungous  and  insect  attack. 

(3)  Fertility  (productiveness). , 

(4)  Quality,  based  upon  the  richness  of  the  fruits  in  useful  substances,  but,  above 
all,  upon  its  known  practical  value  as  a  cider  fruit. b 

Out  of  the  immense  number  of  French  cider  fruits  the  commission 
decided  that  only  40  or  50  varieties  of  apples  should  be  admitted  to  the 
permanent  list,  and  8  or  10  of  pears,  and  that  each  subsequent  year 
not  over  5  or  6  varieties  might  be  added  to  the  list,  and  that  these 
must  be  voted  upon  for  three  successive  years  before  they  could  be 
considered  as  finally  accepted.  Up  to  the  present  the  records  only 
show  36  varieties  of  apples  definitely  admitted,  and  of  these  but  12 
have  yet  been  voted  for  reproduction  by  colored  plates  and  models. 

a  Condensed  free  translation  from  Proceedings  of  International  Congress,  Paris, 
1900,  pp.  48-50. 
&Bul.  de  1'Ass.  Fr.  Pom.,  16:  35. 


33 


These  1^  varieties  represent  perhaps  the  best  known  and  most  care- 
fully studied  French  cider  apples.  The  chemical  data  which  appear 
in  the  accompanying  table  have  been  collected  from  the  bulletin  of  the 
Association  Franc'aise  Pomologique. 

For  most  of  these  varieties  a  very  considerable  number  of  analyses 
are  reported.  Of  these  analyses  the  maximum  and  minimum  deter- 
mination for  each  substance  are  given,  and  then  the  mean  of  all  the 
determinations  of  each  substance.  While  there  are  some  very  striking 
differences  between  the  determinations  given  in  a  number  of  instances, 
yet  it  is  perhaps  fair  to  say  that  the  mean  results  ought  to  be  reliable 
for  the  average  composition  of  these  varieties.  Certainly  no  such 
elaborate  data  an.1  at  hand  for  the  compilation  of  average  composition 
of  cider  fruits  of  smy  other  country. 

To  one  familiar  only  with  our  best  American  varieties  it  is  quite 
startling  to  note  specific  gravity  determinations  reading  as  high  as 
1.133  and  total  sugar  24.31,  as  shown  by  Saint-Laurent,  and  1.134 
specific  gravity,  sugar  26.35,  as  shown  by  Bramtot.  Rousse  falls  but 
little  below  these.  The  above  figures  are,  it  is  true,  the  maximum 
given,  but  the  means  for  sugar  of  these  varieties— 16.51,  19.05,  and 
IT.  19  grams  per  100  cc  (jf  must — are  so  far  above  the  averages  of 
American  or  German  fruits  that  the  comparison  is  equally  striking. 

The  mean  acid  content  is  very  low,  falling  far  below  the  German 
theoretical  mean  desired.  In  tannin  these  varieties  exceed  by  far 
those  of  other  countries,  but  yet  rarely  show  a  quantity  sensibly  above 
the  theoretical  minimum  of  0.2  percent  demanded  by  the  French  stand- 
ard, and  only  in  one  case,  Bramtot,  reaching  a  mean  which  approxi- 
mates the  theoretical  maximum  quantity  desired  under  the  French 
standard. 

The  varieties  in  the  following  table  are  arranged  in  accordance  with 
the  French  seasons  for  cider  apples: 

TABLE  I. — Maximum,  minimum,   and  mean  composition    of  12    French    cider  apples, 
specially  selected  as  standard  sorts  by  the  Association  Franqaise  Pomologique. 


Num- 

Vnripfv                    ber  °f 

Vanet>  .             analy- 
ses. 

Specific 
grav- 
ity. 

Grams  per  100  cc  of  must. 

Season  of  maturity. 

Total 
sugar. 

Acid. 

Tan- 
nin. 

Muci- 
lage. 

Blanc-Mollet  13 

[Maximum. 
<  Minimum  . 
(Mean  

[Maximum 
•(Minimum 
[Mean  

[Maximum 
{Minimum 
[Mean  

{Maximum 
Minimum 
Mean  

1.0740 
1.0550 
1.0637 

1.0820 
1.0510 
1.0619 

1.1330 
1.0610 
1.0800 

1.1340 
1.0500 
1.0880 

16.71 
9.30 
13.48 

19.00 
9.30 
13.06 

24.31 
12.63 
16.51 

26.35 
9.41 
19.05 

.970 
.071 

.240 

.830 
.044 

.288 

.730 
.090 
.276 

.960 
'.085 
.219 

.564 
.065 
.297 

.415 
.140 
.254 

.699 
.096 
.244 

1.055 
.133 
.529 

2.10 
.20 
.62 

1.00 
.25 
.51 

1.97 
.04 
.74 

1.09 

.01 
.35 

}  First  season—  Sept.  20 
to  Oct.  15. 

Do. 
Do. 

}  Second     season—  Oct 
15  to  Nov.  10. 

Reine  des  Hatives  .  .         10 
Saint-Laurent                    91 

Bramtot                .              58 

17247— No.  71—03- 


34 


TABLE  I. — Maximum,  minimum,  and  mean  composition  of  12   French  cider  apples, 
specially  selected  as  standard  sorts  by  the  Association  Frangaise  Pomologique — Cont'd. 


Variety. 

Num- 
ber of 
analy- 
ses. 

Specific 
grav- 
ity. 

Grams  per  100  cc  of  must. 

Season  of  maturity. 

Total 
sugar. 

Acid. 

Tan- 
nin. 

Muci- 
lage. 

Omont"  

3 

10 
17 
8 
31 
75 
33 
13 

[Maximum, 
•j  Minimum  . 
[Mean  

1.0690 
1.0630 
1.0660 

1.  1010 
1.  0530 
1.  0739 

1.1050 
1.  0580 
1.0808 

1.0860 
1.0610 
1.0695 

1.0880 
1.0600 
1.0725 

1.0936 
1.0470 
1.0685 

1.  1070 
1.0530 
1.  0791 

1.0870 
1.0570 
1.0670 

14.92 
12.  90 
14.19 

18.  32 
11.27 
14.80 

24.00 
10.81 
17.19 

19.00 
12.  34 
15.48 

19.45 
12.61 
15.76 

21.94 

10.68 
14.89 

21.60 
10.80 
16.60 

17.85 
10.81 
14.77 

.370 
.310 
.330 

.385 
.080 
.186 

.810 
.105 
.282 

.520 
.079 
.177 

.480 
.064 
.177 

.397 
.015 
.140 

.740 
.079 
.233 

.368 
.082 
.205 

.300 
.245 
.266 

.210 
.061 
.119 

.395 
.045 
.200 

.302 
.079 
.165 

.524 
.051 
.176 

.825 
.008 
.1% 

.866 
.091 
.407 

.630 

.092 
.287 

1.65 
.62 
1.04 

1.12 
.17 
.51 

1.45 

[•Second  season  —  Oct.  15 
I     to  Nov.  10. 

[•Third  season  —  Nov.  10 
I    to  Dec.  1. 

Do. 

[•Fourth   season  —  De- 
)    cember  and  January- 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
I        Do. 

Doux-Normandie  .  .  . 
Rousse  

(Maximum. 
Minimum  . 
Mean  

[Maximum. 
{  Minimum  . 

Ambrette 

.61 

.68 
.10 
.31 

1.71 
.02 

.85 

1.71 
.02 
.62 

1.60 

.12 
.46 

1.28 
.20 
.67 

[Maximum. 
{Minimum  . 
[Mean  

Argile  

[Maximum. 
•[Minimum  . 
[Mean  

Bedan  

[Maximum. 
•I  Minimum  . 
[Mean 

Doux-Geslin       

[Maximum. 
i  Minimum  . 
1  Mean  

Marabot  

[Maximum. 
•(Minimum  . 
[Mean  

Average   of 
means  

1.0725 

15.98 

.229 

.262 

.59 

a  Taken  from  Power,  Vol.  II,  "Best  cider  fruits." 

In  addition  to  the  list  of  12  varieties  shown  in  this  table  there  are 
24  other  varieties  of  apples  already  admitted  to  the  standard  list  by 
the  commission  of  the  Association  Francaise  Pomologique,  and  7  cider 
pears  are  provisionally  admitted.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  2  of  the 
varieties  of  apples  admitted  to  the  list  (Frequin-Lacaille  and  Muscadet 
de  la  Sarthe)  could  not  be  identified  in  the  present  state  of  the  nomen- 
clature so  as  to  give  the  chemical  composition  of  the  must.  Of  the 
pears  admitted  provisional^  the  analysis  of  but  4  could  be  ascertained 
with  certainty  from  the  literature  examined. 

The  chemical  composition  of  varieties  given  in  the  subjoined  Table 
II  is  largely  taken  from  Volume  II  of  Mr.  G.  Power's  exhaustive 
treatise  on  the  "Best  cider  fruits."  In  every  case  where  more  than 
one  analysis  is  noted  the  average  is  given  from  Mr.  Power's  work. 
Where  but  one  analysis  is  noted,  the  figures  are  in  every  case  except 
one  quoted  from  Messrs.  Sequin  and  Pailheret,  of  the  National  School 
of  Agriculture  at  Rennes.  One  analysis — that  of  the  variety  Havar- 
dais — is  quoted  from  the  work  done  by  Mr.  Pic  at  the  Practical  School 
of  Agriculture  of  the  Three  Crosses  near  Rennes.  These  two  schools 
just  outside  of  Rennes  are  now  doing  an  immense  amount  of  work 
on  the  investigation  of  cider  fruits.  When  possible,  the  average  of 
analyses  covering  a  period  of  years  is  quoted. 


35 


TABLE  II. — Composition  of  French  cider  fruits  admitted  to  the  provisional  list  of  the  Asso- 
ciation Franqaise  Pomologique. 


Fruit  and  variety. 

Num- 
ber of 
anal- 
yses. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Grams  per  100  cc  of  must. 

Reducing 
sugar, 
total. 

Acid,  as 
sulph- 
uric. 

Tannin. 

Muci- 
lage. 

APPLES. 

Amere  (petite)  

1 
5 
3 
2 
4 
3 
1 
1 
6 
2 

1.  0860 
1.0750 
1.  0740 
1.  0770 
1.0680 
1.  0850 
1.  0873 
1.  0572 
1.0700 
1.0600 

19.09 
17.13 
15.30 
14.00 
14.60 
18.64 
18.30 
11.69 
15.10 
12.80 

0.114 
.220 
.236 
.303 
.227 
.270 
.123 
.132 
.230 
.183 

0.116 

.188 
.271 
.276 
.244 
.419 
.378 
.110 
.302 
.376 

0.450 
.596 
.827 
1.755 
.621 
.347 
1.392 
.364 
.678 
.317 

Binet  Blanc  ou  Dor6 

Binet  Rouge  

Binet  Violet  

Ch6ru  bine  

Doux-Amer-Gris  v  

Doux-Courcier  

Doux  (petit)  

Fr^quin-Audievre  .  . 

Fr6quin-Lajoye  

Fr6quin-Lacaille  a  

Gilet-Rouge.  ... 

7 
5 
1 
1 
5 
4 
6 
4 
9 
5 

1.0610 
1.  0940 
1.0508 
1.0847 
1.0650 
1.0670 
1.0900 
1.  0710 
1.  0730 
1.  0710 

12.29 
20.24 
11.76 
15.74 
13.42 
14.34 
18.60 
35.92 
16.57 
15.16 

.395 
.118 
.079 
.164 
.254 
.185 
.216 
.183 
.293 
.228 

.140 
.368 
.111 
.089 
.193 
.212 
1.107 
.432 
.350 
.210 

.558 
1.130 
.604 
1.364 
.690 
.799 
.524 
.553 
.758 
.392 

Grise-Dieppois  

Havardais  

Hommet  

Jambe-de-Lievre 

Jolv-Rouge  

Medaille-d'Or  

Michelin 

Moulin-a-Vent  

Muscadet  (petit)  

Muscadet-ou-Antoinette'i  

Precoce-David  

4 
1 

1.  0720 
1.0710 

16.28 
15.21 

.137 
.141 

.259 
.213 

.S04 
.964 

Tardive  de  la  Sarthe  

Averages  

1.  0732 

15.55 

.192 

.289 

.735 

PEARS. 

Billea  

Carisiblanc  .  . 

3 

1 
1 

1.0540 
1.  0742 
1.0577 

12.48 
13.91 
11.00 

.303 
.205 
.338 

.256 
.034 
.027 

.283 
.936 
.246 

Cheuneviere  

Crapaud  

Croixmare  «  

Navet  a  

Souris  

3 

1.0650 

15.00 

.251 

.666 

Trace. 

Averages  

1.  0627 

13.09 

.274 

.245 

.366 

«  Analyses  not  found. 


GERMAN   STANDARDS. 


The  Germans  do  not  appear  to  have  attempted  a  study  of  varieties 
of  apples  and  pears  for  cider  purposes  in  anything  like  the  compre- 
hensive manner  of  the  French  students.  It  seems  that  the  German 
cultivators  have  worked  on  other  lines  than  those  of  the  French.  To 
an  American  it  appears  that  ordinary  orcharding  in  Germany  is  about 
as  far  advanced  as  it  was  in  the  United  States  twenty  or  thirty  years 
ago,  before  the  wonderful  development  of  commercial  orcharding  in 
this  country.  There  are  many  good  varieties  of  grafted  fruit,  and 
these  are  cultivated  at  times  in  considerable  areas,  but  neither  orchard- 
ing for  table  fruits  nor  for  cider  fruits  is  well  developed  in  Germany, 
except  where  the  dessert  fruits  are  grown  in  what  we  would  call  gar- 
den culture  on  walls,  trellises,  etc. 

The  German  cider  fruits,  so  far  as  they  can  be  differentiated  from 
dessert  fruits,  are  occasional  seedlings  of  no  peculiar  character  or 
special  value.  There  are  certainly  no  varieties  to  compare  with  the 
special  varieties  recorded  in  the  French  literature  and  shown  at  the 


36 

French  pomological  congresses.  In  fact,  the  Germans  use  their  chance 
seedlings  and  the  refuse  of  their  table  fruits  for  cider  about  as  we  do 
in  America.  But  the  great  manufacturing  establishments  draw  sup- 
plies by  rail  from  Russia,  Austria,  and  Switzerland  in  large  quantities, 
and  much  of  this  fruit  may  be  of  a  more  special  grade  for  cider  than 
that  seen  growing  in  the  Taunus  and  Rhinegau  regions  of  Germany. 
These  establishments  also  draw  supplies  from  western  France  when- 
ever crop  failures  in  nearer  regions  render  this  necessary. 

The  chemical  data  on  German  varieties  are  also  meager,  or  at  least 
so  scattered  that  nothing  approaching  full  data  could  be  collected  dur- 
ing the  time  of  the  visit.  Later  correspondence  with  very  reliable 
book  dealers  has  failed  to  develop  this  information  as  fully  as  could 
be  desired. 

There  are  53  different  sorts  or  varieties  of  German-grown  apples 
mentioned  by  Dr.  Cluss"  in  his  recent  work  on  cider  making  in  Ger- 
many. Of  these  29  were  anatyzed  by  Professor  Kulisch  at  the  Royal 
School  of  Pomology  at  Geisenheim.  Out  of  17  varieties  anah-zed  b}r 
Professor  Behrend  at  Hohenheim,  Wiirtemberg,  13  seern  to  be  sorts 
not  included  among  those  examined  at  Geisenheim.  These  doubtless 
fairly  represent  Wurtemberg  cider  fruits.  Dr.  Kramer's  analyses  of 
cider  fruits  at  Steiermark,  quoted  by  Dr.  Cluss,  give  11  out  of  15 
varieties  reported  upon,  which  are  not  included  in  either  of  the  above- 
cited  lists.  Thus  we  have  53  varieties  represented  in  the  following 
tables,  which,  from  the  German  literature  consulted,  seem  fairly  to 
represent  the  range  of  German  apples  in  the  best  cider  districts. 

Director  Goethe,  of  the  Lehranstalt  fur  Obst-und  Weinbau  at  Gei- 
senheim, says  the  Schafnase  and  Rhine  Bohnapfel  in  Nassau,  the 
White  and  Red  Treierischer  wine  apples  in  the  Rhine  provinces,  and 
the  Luiken  and  little  tangsteil  in  Wurtemberg  are  the  best  six  Ger- 
man cider  apples. 

TABLE  III. — Analyses  of  German  cider-apple  must  made  at   Geisenheim,  1889-90,  by 

Professor  Kulisch.  & 


Name  of  variety. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Grams  per  100  cc  of  must. 

Grape 
and  fruit 
sugars. 

Cane 
sugar. 

Total  re- 
ducing 
sugar. 

Total 
solids. 

Acid,  as 
sul- 
phuric, o 

Kostlicher  

1.0451 
1.0470 
1.0496 
1.  0532 
1.  0533 
1.0549 
1.0591 
1.0605 
1.0642 
1.0681 
1.086y 
1.0495 
1.  0560 
1.0538 
1.  0540 
1.0492 

8.72 
7.80 
6.82 
7.19 
8.47 
8.69 
7.12 
8.36 
8.35 
9.94 
13.12 
8.80 
8.96 
8.26 
7.85 
9.03 

1.28 
2.12 
3.71 
3.29 
2.31 
3.72 
5.46 
4.52 
4.64 
3.51 
4.49 
0.75 
2.32 
2.89 
2.65 
1.75 

10.07 
10.04 
10.73 
10.66 
10.90 
12.61 
12.  87 
13.12 
13.  23 
13.64 
17.85 
9.59 
11.40 
11.30 
10.64 
10.87 

11.70 
12.  20 
12.86 
13.80 
13.  82 
14.  24 
15.  33 
15.  69 
16.  65 
17.69 
22.  61 
12.  82 
14.  53 
13.96 
14.02 
12.  75 

0.153 
.241 
.270 
.716 
.541 
.087 
.592 
.138 
.526 
.665 
.687 
.592 
.482 
.351 
.424 
.409 

Edelroter  

Kasseler  Reinette  

Bohnapfel  

Giisdonker  Reinette  

Winter-Rambour 

Schiebel-Taubenapfel 

Roter  Eiserapf  el  

Dunchapfel          

Graue  Fr.  Reinette  

Kaiser  Alexander              

Burchardts  Reinette  

Batullenapfel     

Schmidt-Reinette  .  .  . 

«  "Die  Apfelweinbereitung,"  Dr.  Adolf  Cluss, 
&  Apfelweinbereitung.     Dr.  Clu?s,  pp.  24-25. 
c  Calculated  at  Blacksburg,  Va. 


1901. 


37 


TABLE  III. — Analyses  of  German  cider-apple  must  made  at   Geisenheim,  1889-90,  by 
Professor  Kulisch — Continued. 


Name  of  variety. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Grams  per  100  cc  of  must. 

Grape 
and  fruit 
sugars. 

Cane 
sugar. 

Total  re- 
ducing 
sugar. 

Total 
solids. 

Acid,  as 
sul- 
phuric. 

Gelber  Bellefleur  

1.0510 
1.  0438 
1.0535 
1.0600 
1.0639 
1.0724 
1.  0519 
1.0654 
1.0615 
1.  0516 
1.  0510 
1.  0667 
1.0507 

7.38 
7.77 
8.62 
10.  32  > 
7.08 
11.02 
8.65 
9.20 
9.79 
9.27 
7.87 
9.91 
8.44 

2.12 
2.47 
3.19 
2.88 
6.17 
•     3.91 
1.74 
5.33 
1.95 
2.03 
2.85 
4.96 
2.44 

9.61 
10.37 
11.98 
13.  35 
13.58 
15.14 
10.48 
14.81 
11.84 
11.40 
10.87 
15.16 
11.01 

13.24 
12.66 
13.87 
15.58 
16.58 
18.82 
13.46 
16.89 
15.97 
13.37 
13.24 
17.32 
13.15 

.504 

.255 
.511 
.482 
.453 
.372 
.767 
.402 
.789 
.402 
.643 
.555 
.329 

Fette  Goldri'inette 

Langer  Gr  Gulderling 

Goldzeugapfel  

Muskat  Reinette  

Ananas  Reinette 

Griiner  Fiirstenapfel 

Winter  Gold  Pannane  ..  .. 

Dunkapfel  

Leichter  Matapfel 

Champagner  Reinette  . 

Canada  Reinette  

Bauuianns  Reinette  . 

Averages  

1.  0569 

8.72 

3.15 

12.04 

14.78 

.460 

TABLE  IV. — Analyses  of  German  cider-apple  must,  1890,  by  Professor  Sehrend,  Hohen- 

heim,  Wiirtemberg.a 


Name  of  variety. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Grams  per  100  cc  of  must. 

Grape 
and  fruit 
sugars. 

Cane 
sugar. 

Total 
sugars. 

Rheinische  Schafiiase  

1.054 
1.056 
1.057 
1.043 
1.066 
1.050 
1.059 
1.059 
1.072 
1.  059 
1.068 
1.054 
1.063 
1.059 
1.  082 
1.056 
1.055 

7.64 
8.07 
9.93 
6.62 
12.31 
6.79 
6.22 
7.06 
9.37 
8.81 
7.99 
8.40 
9.63 
8.66 
13.04 
8.97 
10.73 

3.73 
4.82 
3.49 
2.63 
2.52 
3.44 
6.51 
4.37 
4.89 
2.48 
5.52 
3.31 
4.10 
4.54 
5.60 
2.95 
1.36 

11.37 
12.89 
13.  42 
9.25 
14.83 
10.23 
12.  73 
11.43 
14.26 
12.29 
13.51 
11.71 
13.73 
13.20 
18.64 
11.92 
12.09 

Goldparmine  

Rheinisches  Bohnapfel  

Gelber  engl.  Gulderling  

Jane  Hure  

Berner  Grauchenapfel  

Pomemnzenapfel  

Rot  her  Kiserapfel  

Ensflischc  Spitalreinette  

Kleiner  Flemer  

Carpentinapfel  

Kugelapfel  

Glanzreinette  .  . 

Trierischer  Weinapfel  

Koniglicher  Kurtzstiel  

Kleiner  Langstiel  .'  

Casseler  Reinette  

Average  

1.059 

8.89 

3.89 

13.38 

«  Obstweinbereitung,  Antonio  dal.  Piaz,  p. 


TABLE  V.—  Analyses  of  German  cider-apple  must,  1892,  by  Dr.  Kramer,  Steiermark.a 


Name  of  variety. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Grams  per  100  cc 
of  must. 

Total 
sugars. 

Acid. 

Muskatellerapfel  -.  

1.047 
1.052 
1.053 
1.  054 
1.067 
1.050 
1.043 
1.050 
1.044 
1.055 
1.051 
1.049 
1.068 
1.055 
1.  061 

10.00 
10.50 
10.70 
11.00 
13.60 
10.10 
9.40 
10.10 
8.85 
11.10 
10.20 
11.10 
13.80 
11.10 
12.60 

0.54 
.75 
.45 
.36 
.20 
.55 
.81 
.64 
.72 
.54 
.70 
1.20 
.80 
.61 
.72 

Holzapfel,  Spitz  

Holzapfel,  rothgestrieft  

Holzapfel,  rothgestrieft  

Hanapfel  

Steierischer  Maschauzker  

Champagner  Reinette  

Canada  Reinette  

Weiser-Winter  Taffctapfel  

Englische  Winter  Gold  Parmane  ' 

Rother  Streifling  

Heiderapfel  

Damason  Reinette  

Edelborsdorfer  

Gelber  Weinapfel  

Average  

1.053 

10.94 

.64 

a  Obstweinbereitung,  Antonio  dal.  Piaz,  p.  89. 


38 

Pyrus  (/Sorbus)  domestica. — Strange  to  say,  no  modern  German  writer 
on  cider  making  appears  to  notice  this  very  important  fruit,  so  largely 
used  to  tone  German  ciders.  It  is  known  popularly  as  the  Speierling, 
Speierlingbaum,  Speierling  crab,  etc.,  and  is  a  native  forest  tree  of 
central  Europe,  but  was  not  observed  in  France. 

Whether  it  has  been  always  intentionally  planted  in  the  orchards  of 
the  Taunus  or  is  partly  wild  is  doubtful,  for  it  is  not  usually  seen  in 
the  regular  rows,  but  in  odd  nooks  here  and  there.  On  the  borders  of 
mountain  ravines  it  is  a  most  beautiful  and  luxuriant  tree  20  to  40  feet 
high  and  loaded  in  the  fall  with  small  pyriform  fruits  about  half  the 
size  of  Seckel  pears.  These  become  yellowish  in  color  and  fall  to  the, 
ground  late  in  autumn,  where,  after  some  days,  one  can  pick  them  up 
and  eat  them  with  considerable  relish;  but  if  plucked  from  the  tree  or 
eaten  before  they  become  mellow,  the  result  on  the  mucous  mem- 
branes is  about  the  same  as  that  of  biting  a  green  persimmon. 

This  fruit  is  gathered  in  quantity  just  at  maturity  and  before  ripen- 
ing begins,  and  it  is  then  used  to  fortify  the  best  grades  of  ciders. 
Either  the  fruits  are  crushed  with  the  apples  in  certain  proportions  or 
are  ground  separately  and  the  must  added  to  apple  must  in  definite 
proportions.  The  latter  is  believed  to  be  the  better  mode  of  blending, 
and  it  is  the  one  pursued  in  the  large  establishments  of  Freyeisen 
Brothers  at  Frankfort.  They  had  great  casks  of  this  must  in  reserve 
in  a  very  cool  cellar  more  than  50  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
which  they  were  using  to  blend  with  the  finest  apple  juice  to  make 
the  high-grade  "  Speierling  apfel  wein."J  As  nearly  as  could  be  deter- 
mined about  1  part  in  20  of  this  must  from  Sorbus  fruits  was  added  to 
the  apple  juice. 

It  seems  astonishing,  considering  the  great  importance  of  this  fruit, 
that  no  recent  writer  should  have  treated  it  in  the  German  literature 
and  that  not  a  single  analysis  of  the  fruit  or  juice  could  be  found. 
About  a  century  ago  J.  L.  Crist  wrote  quite  comprehensively  of  its 
use  in  making  wine  and  in  blending  with  apple  juice,  but  gave  no 
chemical  data.  It  is  supposedly  used  at  present  to  tone  up  German 
ciders  in  tannin,  thus  adding  piquancy  and  flavor  to  the  product.  The 
sugar  content  of  the  fruit  could  not  be  ascertained.  Director  Goethe, 
of  Geisenheim,  kindly  furnished  an  article  written  by  G.  W.  Eiche- 
nauer,  of  Cronberg,  Taunus,  in  which  he  discusses  this  fruit  from  a 
gardener's  standpoint,  but  does  not  give  critical  data  on  its  composition. 
He  states  that  cider  made  by  properly  blending  it  with  ordinary  stock 
is  worth  twice  as  much  as  it  would  have  been  otherwise  and  will  keep 
much  longer.  If  it  is  the  tannin  principle  alone  which  makes  this 
fruit  so  valuable,  certainly  it  is  time  we  in  the  United  States  looked 
more  to  the  selection  of  varieties  rich  in  this  substance  or  resorted  to 
wild  fruits,  such  as  the  native  persimmon,  Dyos})yrus  virginiana,  to 
obtain  it. 


39 


ENGLISH    STANDARDS. 


Any  attempt  to  study  the  cider  apples  of  England,  or  table  varieties 
for  that  matter,  is  greatly  complicated  by  the  endless  maze  of  names 
of  similar  orthography  which  have  been  given  to  apples,  both  cider 
and  table  varieties,  and  by  the  fact  that  there  is  no  recognized 
authority  on  the  nomenclature  of  orchard  fruits  in  the  entire  country. 
Every  local  community  appears  to  delight  in  applying  names  of  its  own 
choosing  to  the  fruits  grown,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  general  dis- 
position to  reduce  the  nomenclature  to  a  system  under  some  competent 
authority,  as  for  instance,  a  national  committee  on  pomological  nomen- 
clature. Of  recent  writers  on  pomolog}^  in  its  broader  sense,  there 
are  very  few,  but  the  older  works,  as'  those  of  Knight,  Marshall, 
Evelyn,  and  others  are  classics  of  their  time. 

The  best  modern  treatment  of  the  subject  of  pomology,  in  a  some- 
what limited  sense,  which  was  secured  is  The  Apple  and  Pear  as  Vin- 
tage Fruits,  by  Robert  Hogg,  LL.  D.,  and  Henry  Graves  Bull,  M.  D., 
a  charmingly  prepared  general  dissertation  upon  the  subject  of  cider 
and  perry  making,  with  critical  notes  and  cuts  showing  many  varieties 
of  cider  fruits.  In  the  way  of  recent  literature,  the  Bath  and  West 
Society  deserves  great  praise  for  the  efforts  it  is  making  to  develop  a 
reliable  literature  on  modern  cider  making.  In  fact,  it  is  putting  forth 
an  effort  to  arouse  the  popular  interest  so  necessary  to  the  future 
progress  in  pomology  as  an  art,  and  more  specifically  as  it  relates  to 
cider  making  as  an  important  industry. 

However,  in  this  literature  it  does  not  appear  that  a  successful 
attempt  has  been  made  to  establish  a  standard  toward  which  the  grow- 
ers of  cider  fruits  should  direct  their  attention.  The  nearest  approach 
to  a  standard  as  to  quality  of  cider  fruits  which  was  found  in  the 
works  mentioned  is  in  the  report  of  the  committee  of  the  Woolhope 
Club,  which  visited  the  congress  of  the  pomological  societies  of  France, 
at  Rouen,  in  October,  1884.  When  this  committee  determined  to 
select  a  set  of  French  varieties  of  apples  for  introduction  into  Here 
fordshire  they  laid  down  the  following  rules: a 

(1)  The  fruit  must  possess  the  very  best  quality  of  juice. 

(2)  The  trees  must  be  hardy,  vigorous,  and  fertile. 

(3)  They  must  bloom  at  varying  intervals. 

(4)  The  fruit  must  attain  maturity  in  late  autumn  or  winter. 

(5)  The  varieties  must  have  obtained  the  highest  reputation  in  the  Norman 
orchards. 

The  fact  that  these  gentlemen  from  Herefordshire  recognized  the 
importance  of  securing  some  of  the  best  Norman  varieties  of  cider 
apples  for  introduction  into  England  indicates  that  some  of  the  best 
English  growers  are  alive  to  the  importance  of  producing  fruit  of 
high  quality  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  cider  industry.  But  such  apples 
are  already  very  common  in  England.  The  oldest  English  writers  tell 

«  Hogg  and  Bull,  Vintage  Fruits,  p.  88. 


40 

us  of  fruits  yielding1  must  of  1.091  specific  gravity,  which,  if  correct, 
is  hardly  surpassed  in  our  day  in  any  country. 

There  is  a  large  group  of  varieties  of  apples  cultivated  in  England 
chiefly  for  cider,  the  names  of  which  are  made  up  of  some  English 
word  prefixed  to  the  word  Norman  or  Jerse}T,  as  Cherry  Norman, 
Broad-leaf  Norman,  Chisel  Jersey,  lied  Jersey,  etc.  These  apples  all 
possess  the  peculiar  bitter-sweet  taste  which  characterizes  so  distinctly 
many  of  the  most  famous  French  cider  apples.  An  interesting  ques- 
tion arises  in  this  connection  as  to  whether  these  apples  are  ancient 
importations  from  Normandy  and  the  Channel  Islands.  In  the  work  on 
Vintage  Fruits,  quoted  above,  the  opinion  is  given  that  they  are  not. 
This  is  based  on  comparisons  made  in  1884:  at  the  congress  of  Rouen; 
which  really  prove  nothing  further  than  that  they  are  not  recent 
importations.  It  appears,  after  extensive  comparisons,  that  this 
peculiar  race  of  apples  so  common  in  Normandy  has  had  a  common 
origin,  either  in  England  or  in  France,  indications  all  pointing  to  the 
latter  country.  Interchanges  between  England  and  the  mainland  have 
been  such  for  man}T  centuries  that  the  parent  stocks  of  the  present 
race  of  bitter-sweet  apples  in  England  may  very  easily  have  been 
derived  from  French  sources.  Then  there  is  the  other  argument, 
that  all  the  historically  old  English  cider  apples,  like  Foxwhelp  and 
Red  Streak,  which  go  back  some  two  centuries  in  the  literature,  give 
no  hint,  either  in  chemical  composition  or  quality,  of  common  origin 
with  the  bitter-sweet  varieties  of  France. 

From  what  was  seen  of  these  fruits  in"  England  it  appears  that  if 
seedlings  had  been  freely  grown  from  them  and  well  selected,  as  in 
France,  England  would  to-day  have  as  good  a  race  of  cider  apples  as 
France  has. 

But  are  the  bitter-sweets  so  essential?  This  question  is  not  settled. 
In  Germany  scarcely  a  trace  of  thiy  peculiar  quality  was  found  in  the 
cider  fruits,  yet  they  make  most  excellent  cider  in  Germany.  Also 
in  Gloucestershire  and  Herefordshire,  England,  most  excellent  ciders 
were  sampled,  in  whose  making  no  particular  attention, was  paid  to  the 
using  of  bitter-sweet  fruit.  The  question  is  an  important  one,  and, 
with  a  view  of  giving  it  ample  study,  the  writer  has  procured  and  is 
growing  a  collection  of  French  and  English  cider  apples  representing 
the  bitter-sweet  and  other  old  types. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  examine  a  considerable  mass  of  data  in  the 
attempt  to  select  a  representative  list  of  English  cider  fruits.  Mr.  F. 
J.  Lloyd  has  examined  and  reported  upon  such  a  large  number  of 
varieties  in  his  work  for  the  Bath  and  West  Society  that  it  is  possible 
to  use  but  a  small  fraction  of  his  data.  Hence  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  select  a  set  of  varieties  which  shall  represent  the  old  renowned 
cider  fruits  and  the  more  recent  sorts  which  are  coming  prominently 
into  notice.  Among  the  varieties  selected,  the  Blenheim  Orange, 
which  is  an  old  popular  variet}7  grown  for  general  purposes,  and  used 


41 


as  a  cider  fruit  also,  has  been  selected  for  special  presentation.  Fox- 
whelp  is  the  oldest,  historically,  of  famous  English  cider  apples,  and 
Kingston  Black  is  a  very  prominent  recent  variety.  The  others  rep- 
resent the  English-grown  bitter-sweet  apples,  and  a  number  of  them 
are  given  because  of  their  present  prominence.  However,  no  variety 
known  to  be  of  recent  French  introduction  is  used  in  the  table,  though 
several  of  these  recent  introductions  are  now  beginning  to  figure  in 
the  English  cider  factories. 

The  chemical  data  are  taken  wholly  from  Mr.  F.  J.  Lloyd's  analyses, 
published  in  the  reports  of  the  Bath  and  West  Society.  The  writer 
has  compiled  from  his  data  analyses  covering  as  many  years  as  could 
be  obtained  for  each  of  those  varieties  selected  to  represent  English 
cider  fruit. 

TABLE  VI. — Analyses  of  English  cider  apples  by  Mr.  F.  J.  Lloyd. 


Variety. 

Year. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Grams  per  100  cc. 

Total 
solid.s. 

Total 
sugars. 

Fruit 

sugars. 

Cane 
sugar. 

Acid,  as 
sul- 
phuric.o 

Taimiii. 

1897 
1898 

1.0683 
1.0674 

16.64 
15.66 

14.35 
14.04 

10.00 
10.64 

4.14 
3.24 

0.577 
.424 

0.140 
.078 

1.0678 

16.15 

14.19 

10.32 

3.69 

.500 

.109 

Broadleaf  .               

1897 
1898 

1.0578 
1.0612 

14.22 
14.  62 

12.50 
13.25 

,(b) 
10.64 

(b) 
2.51 

.172  i        .300 
.  234           .  302 

Average             

1.  0595 

14.42 

12.  87 

(") 

(6) 

.203 

.301 

Cherrv  Norman 

1898 

1897 
1898 
1899 

1.  0636 

15.  82 

13.26 

11.11 

2.  05 

.277 

.310 

Chisel  Jer-;ev 

1.0542 
1.  068'2 
1.0611 

13.50 
17.06 
15.68 

12.  90 
15.96 
14.84 

11.11 

14.08 
11.90 

1.71 
1.79 

2.80 

.226 
.  226 
.234 

.264 
.370 
.174 

Average                       

1.0612 

15.41 

14.57 

12.36 

2.10 

.228 

.269 

Foxwhelp 

1895 

1897 
1898 
1899 

1.  0565 

13.84 

12.  98 

W 

(b)   . 

.146 

.230 

Kingston  Black 

1.0606 
1.  0691 
1.0667 

14.86 
16.90 
16.64 

14.06 
15.37 
14.84 

10.64 
10.84 
11.90 

3.24 
4.31 
2.80 

.351 
.416 
.446 

.126 

.182 
.110 

Average  

1.  0654 

16.13 

14.  75 

11.12 

3.45 

.404 

.139 

New  Cadburv  

1897 
1898 
1899 

1.  0539 
1.0642 
1.0601 

12.68 
15.  68 
14.00 

10.82 
14.81 
12.  66 

9.06 
12.  50 
8.76 

1.68 
2.20 
3.74 

.702 
.226 
.174 

.174 
.232 
.122 

Average  

1.0594 

14.12 

12.76 

10.77 

2.54 

.367 

.176 

Red  Jersey 

1897 
1898 
1899 

1.0596 
1.  0611 
1.0667 

14.50 
14.98 
16.76 

14.03 
13.94 
13.46 

10.87 
12.  04 
12.18 

3.01 
1.85 
1.22 

.219 
.226 
.204 

.124 
.314 
.230 

Average  

1.0625 

15.41 

13.81 

11.70 

2.03 

.216 

.223 

White  Jersev.  .1  

18% 

1897 
1898 

1.  0581 
1.  0519 
1.  0642 

14.68 
12.  68 
15.  74 

13.25 
12.  26 
14.00 

w 

8.65 
11.  62 

CO 

3.43 
2.26 

.160 
.190 
.307 

.150 
.210 
.114 

Average  

1.  0580 

14.36 

13.17 

10.13 

2.84 

.219 

.158 

Butleigh  No.  14  .... 

1897 
1898 
1899 

1.  0790 
1.0933 
1.0925 

20.  24 
23.22 
24.34 

18.58 
20.51 
23.  32 

13.18 
18.18 
18.88 

4.94 
2.22 
4.22 

.153 
.292 
.351 

.300 
.380 
.206 

Average  

1.0883 

22.59 

20.73 

16.75 

3.79 

.265 

.296 

General  average  

1.0642 

15.82 

14.30 

11.65 

2.77 

.282 

.221 

a  Calculated  at  Blacksburg,  Va. 


6  Only  total  sugars  given. 


42 


AMERICAN*    STANDARDS. 


Early  in  the  nineteenth  centuiy  much  interest  was  manifested  in  the 
United  States  in  the  culture  of  cider  apples,  and  in  the  manufacture 
of  this  beverage  at  a  few  points.  Perhaps  Newark,  N.  J.. ,  was  one  of 
the  most  noted  centers  of  this  infant  industry.  In  New  England,  how- 
ever, the  cider  fruits  were  cultivated,  and  the  Massachusetts  Agricul- 
tural Societ}7  showed  considerable  interest  in  encouraging  these  efforts. 
From  scraps  of  information  and  brief  references,  it  also  appears  that 
Virginia  planters  were  interested,  and  rated  good  cider  highly. 

William  Coxe  was  one  of  the  first  to  write  on  this  subject,  so  far  as 
the  early  literature  available  shows.  His  treatise  on  Fruit  Trees  is 
dated  1817,  and1  in  it  he  speaks  of  the  high  quality  of  Hewes  Virginia 
Crab  and  the  Harrison  apple  for  cider  making.  The  latter  is  of  New 
Jersey  origin,  and  helped  to  make  the  quality  of  New  Jersey  ciders 
recognized  in  the  early  days  of  our  history.  Coxe  also  mentions  the 
Newtown  Pippin  and  Winesap,  both  well  recognized  to-day  as  yielding 
cider  of  high  quality,  but  lacking  in  the  element  of  tannin.  The 
Hagloe  Crab,  an  old  English  cider  crab,  is  constantly  mentioned  in 
the  early  literature,  and  the  Vandevere  is  also  spoken  of  as  a  cider 
fruit. 

In  the  change  of  habits  which  came  over  our  people  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  past  century,  cider  gradually  lost  its  place  as  a  beverage, 
used  alike  by  the  well-to-do  and  the  laboring  classes,  and  the  art  of 
making  it  seemed  to  fall  into  desuetude.  The  country  people  and  a 
number  of  large  commercial  establishments  have  continued  to  make  a 
beverage  from  apple  must,  but,  in  the  main,  it  is  very  inferior  in 
quality.  Even  the  varieties  of  fruit  best  suited  for  making  this  bev- 
erage have  almost  been  lost  to  our  pomology,  and  later  writers  rarely 
mention  them.  Yet  it  can  scarcely  be  contended  that  our  people  use 
less  fermented  beverages  or  less  ardent  spirits  than  formerly. 

The  early  American  writers  of  consequence  are  Coxe  and  Thatcher, 
and  these  gentlemen  did  little  more  than  copy  the  best  English  and 
French  writers  of  their  time,  weaving  in  some  local  experience.  Of 
real  technical  study  there  was  none.  The  writings  of  Thomas  Andrew 
Knight,  and  articles  in  Willich's  Domestick  Encyclopedia,  furnished 
the  basis  of  these  early  dissertations.  Many  of  the  principles  laid 
down  by  these  old  writers  contain  the  germ  of  the  best  practice  of  the 
present  day.  Strangely  enough,  the  new  encyclopedia  of  horticulture 
(Bailey's)  does  not  contain  the  word  cider  as  a  subject. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  we  have  not  at  present  in  the  United 
States  a  distinct  industry  in  the  growing  of  cider  fruits.  Yet  it  is 
true  that  some  of  our  crab  apples,  and  some  varieties  of  apples  also, 
have  been  cultivated  to  a  limited  extent  for  cider  and  are  considered 
valuable  for  this  purpose,  but  it  is  seldom  that  they  are  grown  to  any 
large  extent. 


43 


So  far  as  the  writer  has  learned  there  is  no  technical  literature  deal- 
ing especially  with  the  chemistry  of  American  apples,  either  for  cider 
production  or  the  manufacture  of  other  products.  Hence,  at  present 
it  is  not  possible  even  to  suggest  a  standard  composition  for  American 
fruits  used  in  making  cider.  Even  partial  analyses  of  the  old  fruits 
mentioned  above  could  not  be  found,  save  of  Hewes  crab.  Such  anal' 
37ses  as  have  been  made,  up  to  a  very  recent  date,  are  fragmentary  and 
incomplete,  and  little  attempt  has  been  made  to  collect  them.  In  1886 
Mr.  Edgar  Richards,  then  an  assistant  chemist  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  made  analyses  of  the  whole  fruits  of  16 
varieties  of  apples,  and  the  results  of  his  analyses  are  given  below,  so 
far  as  they  concern  this  inquiry.  These  results  can  not  be  incorpo- 
rated in  the  tables  of  average  composition  of  must  from  American 
apples  because  the  fruit  and  not  the  expressed  juice  was  analyzed: 

TABLE  VII. — Analyses  of  whole  fruits  of  apples  by  Edgar  Richards,  Division  of  Chemistry, 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  1886. 


Variety. 

Total 
solids. 

Total 
sugar. 

Reducing 
sugar. 

Sucrose. 

Acid  as 
sul- 
phuric. 

Ash. 

Fall  pippin  

Per  cent. 
12.81 

Per  cent. 
10.14 

Per  cent. 
7.40 

Per  cent. 
2.60 

Per  cent. 
0.577 

Per  cent. 
0.354 

Smokehouse                                 

12.26 

10.72 

10.30 

.40 

.468 

.262 

Maiden  Blush     

12.00 

9.79 

8.80 

.94 

.767 

.245 

Northern  Spy  

13.43 

10.41 

10.25 

.15 

.395 

.291 

14.14 

10.63 

8.00 

2.50 

.395 

.283 

King                             

14.11 

8.55 

7.55 

.95 

.314 

.231 

Smith  Cider  

13.49 

8.99 

8.32 

.64 

.453 

.275 

Rambo  

15.40 

11.75 

9.67 

1.98 

.292 

.295 

Blush  pippin               .            

13.17 

8.66 

8.43 

.22 

.863 

.353 

Paradise  Sweet  

14.68 

10.61 

7.52 

2.94 

.138 

.235 

13.43 

11.04 

8.63 

2.29 

.395 

.325 

16.  55 

11.90 

9.40 

2.38 

.490 

.279 

14  58 

12  02 

10.80 

1.16 

.228 

Golden  pippin  

12.95 

10.03 

7.69 

2.23 

.607 

.249 

Lobster  White            

10.60 

9.84 

6.89 

2.81 

.285 

.255 

Virginia  crab  

13.65 

12.90 

10.24 

2.63 

.409 

.240 

Averages              

13.57 

10.49 

8.74 

1.67 

.457 

.274 

1 

Recently,  however,  the  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  Experiment  Sta- 
tion has  taken  up  this  line  of  work,  and  during  1899  Mr.  C.  A.  Browne, 
jr.,  made  a  fairly  complete  study  of  25  varieties  of  apples  grown  mostly 
upon  the  agricultural  college  farm.  Center  County,  Pa. 

His  work  was  first  published  as  Bulletin  No.  58,  Pennsylvania 
department  of  agriculture,  December,  1899.  From  this  source  are 
quoted  the  data  derived  from  Mr.  Browne's  analyses  as  to  the  average 
composition  of  the  whole  fruit  of  these  25  varieties  of  apples: 

Inorganic  matter:  Percent. 

Water : 83. 57 

Ash : 27 

Organic  matter: 

Total  solids 16.43 

Invert  sugar  (grape  and  fruit  sugar) 7.  92 

Cane  sugar  (sucrose) 3. 99 

Total  reducing  sugar  (after  inversion) • -  12. 12 

Acid,  as  malic  (free) , 61 


44 


The  points  in  the  above  which  interest  cider  makers  are  the  total 
sugars,  which,  when  the  cane  sugar  is  converted  into  reducing  sugar, 
show  an  average  of  12.12  per  cent  of  fermentable  sugar.  This  is 
undoubtedly  a  high  average  for  American  apples.  The  free  acid,  0. 61 
grams  per  100  grams  of  fruit,  is  also  high,  nearly  reaching  that  of  the 
German  apples  and  being  0.2  to  0.4  grams  above  that  of  the  French. 
The  tannin  was  not  determined.  On  page  29  of  the  same  bulletin  Mr. 
Browne  gives  the  analyses  of  the  fresh  must  as  expressed  from  the 
fruit  of  10  varieties  of  apples,  including  a  number  of  the  best-known 
summer  and  winter  sorts.  This  table  is  quoted  in  part  below. 

TABLE  VIII. — Analyses  of  must  of  American  apples  by  C.  A.  Browne,  jr.,  Pennsylvania 
Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  1899. 


Variety. 

Season. 

Specific 
gravity." 

Per 
cent 
solids. 

Grams  in  100  cc  of  must. 

Per 
cent  of 

ash. 

Total 
reduc- 
ing 
sugar. 

Invert 
sugar. 

Cane 
sugar. 

Acid  as 
sul- 
phu- 
ric. 6 

Red  Astrachan         

Summer.. 
do  

1.05177 
1.05382 
1.  04880 
1.04809 
1.04839 
1.07222 
1.05249 
1.06130 
1.05587 
1.05761 

12.78 
13.29 
11.71 
11.81 
11.87 
16.82 
12.  77 
14.90 
13.94 
13.75 

10.69 
11.67 
10.24 
9.90 
10.85 
15.39 
11.16 
13.61 
12.95 
12.95 

6.87 
7.49 
8.03 
5.47 
7.61 
7.97 
7.11 
9.06 
9.68 
10.62 

3.63 
3.97 
2.10 
4.21 
3.08 
7.05 
3.85 
4.32 
3.11 
2.31 

0.833 
.658 
.628 
.570 
.073 
.487 
.336 
.424 
.190 
.321 

0.37 
.28 
.27 
.24 

!26 
.28 
.28 
.24 
.26 

Early  Harvest                         ... 

Yellow  Transparent  

do  

Early  Strawberry  

...do... 

Sweet  Bough  

do.... 

Baldwin 

Winter  ... 
do  

Ben  Davis  .                          .  . 

Belleflower  

.  ...do  

Talpahocken  

...do  ... 

Unknown  variety  
Averages  

do.... 

1.  05523 

13.36 

11.94 

7.78 

3.76 

.453 

.27 

a  Corrected  by  author's  request — factor,  — 0.0014. 


b  Calculated  at  Blacksburg,  \*a. 


The  average  sugar  content  in  100  cc  of  apple  must  for  the  10  vari- 
eties given,  as  shown  by  Browne's  table,  is  11.94  grams  reducing 
sugars,  which  for  practical  purposes  may  be  read  per  cent.  This  is  a 
low  sugar  content  even  compared  with  German  averages.  The  average 
acid,  0.62  grams  in  100  cc  of  must,  is  high.  From  must  of  this  aver- 
age composition  one  might  expect  to  produce  a  cider  of  5  per  cent 
alcohol,  with  still  a  little  sugar  left  unfermented.  With  such  must 
undiluted,  there  is  no  reason  to  say  that  a  cider  of  proper  strength 
can  not  be  produced. 

In  the  department  of  horticulture  of  the  Virginia  Agricultural 
Experiment  Station  the  writer  has  for  the  past  fourteen  years  been 
bringing  together  a  large  collection  of  pome  fruit  trees,  more  espe- 
cially of  apples.  This  collection  now  contains  375  varieties  of  apples, 
including  crabs,  collected  from  various  portions  of  America  and 
Europe.  Many  of  these  are  now  coming  into  full  bearing,  and  Prof. 
R.  J.  Davidson,  chemist  of  the  station,  has  begun  an  exhaustive 
investigation  of  the  chemical  composition  of  the  fruits.  This  inves- 
tigation is  not  undertaken  solely  with  a  view  to  studying  cider  making, 
but  for  the  general  purpose  of  accumulating  scientific  data  for  our 
studies  of  these  fruits  in  all  lines  as  commercial  fruits  and  as  raw 


45 


material  for  the  manufacture  of  various  products.  The  following 
tabular  statement  furnished  by  Professor  Davidson  is  useful  here  for 
the  further  consideration  of  American  standards  and  for  comparison 
of  foreign  and  American  varieties: 

TABLE  IX. — Analyses  of  apple  must  b>/  R.  J.  Davidson,  Virginia  Agricultural  Experi- 
ment Station,  Blacksburg,  1901. 

CRAB  APPLES. 


Variety. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Grams  per  100  cc  of  must. 

Total 
solids. 

Total 
sugar. 

Redu- 
cing 
sugar. 

Cane 
sugar. 

Acid,  as 
sul- 
phuric. 

Tan- 
nin. 

English  crab    .... 

1.053 
1.065 
1.066 
1.066 
1.045 

12.68 
14.88 
15.42 
16.03 
10.90 

9.60 
11.84 
12.25 
12.  63 
8.09 

6.31 
6.80 
8.75 
7.85 
5.31 

3.14 
4.78 
3.33 
4.54 
2.64 

0.31 
0.59 
0.52 
0.33 
0.35 

0.018 
0.098 
0.023 
0.083 
0.070 

Hvslop  

Kentucky  Cider  crab  

Maiden  Blush 

Montreal  Beautv  

• 
Averages  

1.059 

13.98 

10.88 

7.00 

3.68 

0.42 

0.060 

APPLES. 


Albemarlc  pippin  

1.  062 

11.48 

9.40 

6.14 

3.10 

0.30 

0.022 

A  kansas  (Black  Twig).  ..               

1.051 

12.05 

10.86 

7  00 

3.67 

0.30 

0.021 

Baltzby  ,  

1.046 

10.76 

8.76 

5.23 

3.35 

0.47 

0.015 

Ben  Davis  

1.046 

10.69 

6.74 

5.06 

1.60 

0.32" 

0.022 

Bonum  .  . 

1.  060 

14.23 

11  37 

7.72 

3.47 

0.27 

0  002 

Emperor  Alexander  

1.060 

13.78 

10.52 

9.24 

1.22 

0.46 

0.030 

Eureka  

1.  057 

13.19 

10.00 

7.10 

2.76 

0.61 

0.030 

Gano 

1  046 

10  16 

8  61 

5.53 

2  93 

0  30 

0  026 

La  \vver 

1  049 

11.96 

9.91 

8.05 

1.76 

0.34 

0  032 

Lov  

1.052 

11.76 

7.08 

5.43 

1.57 

0.37 

0.017 

Mann  

1.061 

14.08 

10.35 

7.43 

2.77 

0.42 

0.016 

Nero 

1.046 

10  61 

8.58 

6.  77 

1.72 

0.26 

0  030 

Northern  Spv 

1.053 

11.73 

8.82 

5.36 

3.29 

0.50 

0.026 

Peck  Pleasant  

1.054 

12.  60 

10.23 

5.32 

4.66 

0.35 

0.016 

Ridge  pippin 

1  051 

11.73 

8  66 

4.69 

3.77 

0.32 

0  030 

Rome  Beauty 

1.048 

11.37 

8.70 

6.24 

2.17 

0.27 

0.030 

Sharp  

1.051 

11.96 

10.00 

8.09 

1.81 

0.50 

0.018 

Smith  Cider  

1.062 

13.31 

9.93 

8.63 

1.24 

0.48 

0.026 

Stark 

•    1.058 

15.05 

13.31 

9.26 

3.85 

0.42 

0.013 

Tolman  Sweet  ..  .          

1.055 

12.42 

9.76 

5.98 

3.59 

0.15 

0.024 

Walbridge  

1.051 

11.57 

9.18 

7.94 

1.18 

0.44 

0.022 

Willow  Twig 

1.053 

12.11 

9  12 

6.87 

2.14 

0.53 

0.028 

Yates  

1.  052 

12.33 

10.00 

6.79 

3.05 

0.34 

0.018 

York  Imperial  

1.050 

11.91 

10.  12 

7.08 

2.89 

0.22 

0.018 

Averages  

1.053 

12.19 

9.58 

6.78 

2.65 

0.35 

0.022 

These  analyses  are  the  results  of  but  one  season's  work,  and  hence 
do  not  warrant  extended  discussion  or  comparisons  with  the  analyses  of 
fruits  from  other  sections  of  this  country  or  from  foreign  countries. 
It  is  distinctly  noticeable  that  the  crabs  show  a  better  analysis  as  cider 
fruits  than  the  apples.  In  this  latter  list,  however,  there  are  no  dis- 
tinctly cider  varieties.  While  there  are  a  large  number  of  these  special 
sorts  in  our  plantations,  none  have  yet  fruited.  A  number  of  analyses 
of  fruits  from  the  station  orchard  were  made  at  the  Bureau  of 
Chemistry,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  these  are 
here  inserted,  forming  Table  X.  The  averages  of  specific  gravity 
readings  at  the  two  places  are  remarkably  close,  but  in  other  points 
there  are  differences  to  be  accounted  for,  partially  at  least,  by  the 
fact  that  the  varieties  examined  in  the  two  laboratories  were  only  in 
part  the  same. 


46 

TABLE  X. — Analyses  of  apple  must  by  J.  S.  Kurd,  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  1901. 


Variety. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Grams  per  100  cc  of  must. 

Per 
cent  of 
ash. 

Total 
solids. 

Total 
sugar. 

Redu- 
cing 
sugar. 

Cane 
sugar. 

Acid,  as 
sul- 
phuric. 

Baldwin  

1.  0514 
1.  0585 
1.0534 
1.0594 
1.0561 
1.  0424 
1.0704 
1.0504 
1.0506 
1.0489 
1.0510 
1.0462 
1.  0519 
1.0529 
1.  0574 
1.  0589 
1.0527 
1.0445 
1.  0527 
1.  0521 
1.0519 

13.64 
14.93 
14.72 
15.27 
14.35 
10.97 
18.81 
13.18 
13.42 
12.  08 
13.18 
12.00 
13.77 
14.05 
12.87 
13.08 
14.60 
11.74 
12.75 
12.37 
12.55 

11.72 
11.36 
11.35 
11.12 
11.61 
8.12 
14.  05 
9.52 
10.10 
9.77 
10.09 
9.09 
9.77 
10.18 
10.84 
10.73 
10.29 
8.41 
10.86 
10.21 
10.34 

5.40 
9.46 
6.25 
7.22 
7.16 
5.72 
7.33 
6.76 
7.93 
5.57 
7.15 
7.63 
6.10 
6.18 
5.15 
7.77 
6.33 
7.14 
6.91 
7.65 
6.89 

6.01 
1.81 
4.84 
3.71 
4.23 
2.28 
6.39 
2.63 
2.07 
3.99 
2.80 
1.39 
3.50 
3.80 
5.41 
2.82 
3.77 
1.21 
3.76 
2.53 
3.28 

0.45 
0.38 
0.31 
0.54 
0.68 
0.29 
0.54 
0.19 
0.36 
0.44 
0.47 
0.29 
0.51 
0.35 
0.46 
0.48 
0.16 
0.18 
0.28 
0.44 
0.33 

0.25 
0.26 
0.25 
0.87 
0.37 
0.24 
0.30 
0.87 
0.25 
0.31 
0.33 
0.24 
0.32 
0.24 
0.25 
0.37 
0.28 
0.24 
0.28 
0.24 
0.26 

Bonum           

Bullock's  pippin  

Emperor  Alexander  

Eureka  :  

Gano  

Grimes  Golden  ..        .                             .... 

Jonathan  

Lankford  

Missouri  pippin  

Nansemond  Beauty  

Nero  

Northern  Spy  

Peck  Pleasant.        

Roxbury  Russett  

Smith  Cider  

Tolman  Sweet  

Via  

White  Winter  Pearmain  

World's  Wonder  

Yates  

Averages  

1.0535 

13.39 

10.45 

6.84 

3.48 

0.37 

0.33 

EAR  VESTING,,  TRANSPORTATION,  AND  STORAGE  OF  CIDER  FRUIT. 

If  quality  in  cider  fruit  is  such  a  prime  consideration,  then  any- 
thing which  acts  either  to  enhance  or  to  deteriorate  the  same  must 
receive  attention.  There  is  much  discussion  of  this  point  going  on  in 
foreign  journals,  and  the  standard  literature  of  this  subject  contains 
many  notes  thereon.  The  discussion  hinges  about  certain  principal 
questions,  as:  (1)  What  is  the  proper  season  to  gather  the  fruit?  (2) 
Shall  it  be  hand  picked  or  shaken  ?  (3)  Shall  it  be  kept  in  piles  out  of 
doors  on  the  ground  ?  or  (4)  shall  it  be  kept  on  raised  temporary  struc- 
tures, so  as  to  protect  the  fruit  entirely  from  contact  with  the  earth? 
or  (5)  should  it  be  removed  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible  into  storage 
buildings  ? 

Because  of  the  fact  that  general  culture  of  orchards  for  dessert 
fruit  has  not  reached  that  stage  of  development  in  Europe  which  it 
has  in  the  United  States,  they  seem  not  to  have  worked  out  a  sj^stem 
of  harvesting  fruit  at  all  comparable  to  ours,  nor  does  it  appear  that 
the  harvesting  and  handling  of  cider  fruits  require  such  a  system. 
Yet  there  are  some  important  considerations  to  be  observed. 

The  early  fruit  which  is  turned  into  cider  is  generally  treated  with 
very  little  consideration.  It  is  allowed  to  fall  to  the  ground  from  the 
effect  of  natural  ripening,  and  is  either  worked  up  from  time  to  time 
or  allowed  to  lie  until  such  a  time  as  it  is  convenient  to  whip  off  that 
which  still  hangs  on  the  trees,  and  all  is  then  worked  together.  This 
gives  an  uneven  condition  of  fruit,  and  produces  a  poor  product,  which 
is  fermented  rapidly  and  used  for  a  cheap  trade.  Such  fruit  appears 


47 

to  be  handled  in  most  countries  just  as  we  ordinarily  handle  our  entire 
crop  of  cider  apples  in  this  country.  The  fruit  lies  in  heaps  on  the 
earth,  quite  regardless  of  unclean  conditions,  and  is  then  ground  with- 
out regard  to  uniformity  of  ripeness  or  blending  for  quality. 

The  following  discussion  relates  to  observations  made  on  the  main 
cider  crop.  The  practice  of  different  countries  varies  much  on  some 
points  and  will  be  noticed  separately  so  far  as  there  is  ground  for  so 
doing. 

Considerable  importance  is  attached  to  observing  the  maturity  of  the 
fruit.  The  French  especially  argue  that  both  the  sugar  content  and 
the  quality  of  the  product  are  affected  thereby.  The  first  will  doubt- 
less be  readily  admitted  by  all,  and  the  second  in  part,  but  further 
investigation  is  needed  before  all  that  is  claimed  can  be  admitted. 
While  the  fruit  should  certainly  be  mature — that  is,  it  should  have 
reached  the  perfection  of  its  growth — it  should  not  be  allowed  to  ripen 
and  fall  from  the  tree,  as  this  will  lead  to  very  irregular  ripening  and 
yield  at  no  time  a  satisfactory  amount  of  evenly  ripened  fruit  in  proper 
condition  for  grinding. 

The  French  lay  great  stress  upon  gathering  and  ripening  in  bulk,  as 
they  claim  in  this  manner  to  secure  the  most  perfect  development  of 
the  delicate  aroma  which  is  such  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  best 
Normandy  varieties.  Their  method  is  generally  to  dislodge  the  fruit 
by  shaking  and  by  the  use  of  poles  at  about  the  stage  of  maturity  which 
in  America  we  recognize  as  right  for  gathering  and  barreling.  In 
many  places  this  fruit  is  left  in  huge  piles  under  the  trees  until  late 
in  the  season,  though  this  is  not  considered  the  best  practice.  The 
better  method,  which  seems  to  be  quite  well  observed  by  larger 
growers,  and  especially  by  those  concerns  which  manufacture  large 
quantities  of  cider,  is  to  bring  the  fruit  quite  promptly  into  the 
lofts  over  the  cider  mills.  This  was  the  only  house-storage  method 
observed  in  France. 

It  is  well  to  explain  here  that  the  small  cider  apples  grown  in  France 
bear  shaking  and  beating  off  far  better  than  would  the  large  apples  in 
our  country,  and  further,  the  orchards  are  almost  invariably  set  in 
heavy  sod,  which  is  an  advantage  in  this  method  of  harvesting. 
Their  apples  are  often  very  firm  at  maturity,  and  some  of  them  have 
a  tough  texture  which  resists  rough  handling  well.  It  was  surprising 
to  see  how  little  inclined  the  fruit  is  to  decay  from  the  effect  of  bruises 
and  other  slight  injuries. 

The  storage  lofts  in  France  were  ordinarily  fitted  with  bins  or  par- 
titions for  the  separation  of  apples  of  various  qualities,  so  that  they 
could  be  properly  blended  in  grinding.  Here  were  seen  great  struc- 
tures 100  feet  long  or  more  and  30  or  40  feet  wide  piled  with  apples 
to  a  depth  of  4  to  6  feet,  and  such  a  loft  in  late  November  filled  with 
this  ripening  fruit  is  pervaded  by  an  aroma  sometimes  quite  oppres» 


48 

sive  and  not  easily  characterized.  When  the  room  is  not  too  close  the 
odor  is  decidedly  pleasant.  Some  makers  are  very  careful  to  store  the 
fruit  only  a  foot  or  two  deep,  but  this  is  the  exception. 

The  invariable  custom,  so  far  as  observed,  was  to  run  the  fruit  by 
gravity  from  the  loft  storerooms  into  the  grinders,  whence  the  pomace 
falls  into  vats  before  going  to  the  presses.  The  fruit  is  ground  from 
these  upper-floor  storerooms  as  it  ripens  some  varieties  not  coming  to 
their  best  until  Januaiy  or  February.  In  the  peculiar  climate  of  Nor- 
mandy and  Brittan}^  there  seems  to  be  very  little  danger  of  the  weather 
becoming  sufficiently  severe  to  harm  the  fruit  materially. 

The  growers  of  this  fruit  are  very  largely  the  small  peasant  pro- 
prietors and  small  tenants,  with  here  and  there  a  large  estate.  The 
small  growers  are  referred  to  in  French  literature  as  "-rocoltants.'' 
Often  these  peasant  proprietors  make  up  their  own  fruit  and  that  of 
neighbors;  hence  the  cider  houses  of  these  small  makers  are  very 
common  in  some  parts.  But  there  is  a  tendency  to  commercialize,  and 
more  and  more  the  fruit  goes  to  the  large  manufacturer.  To  these  it 
is  hauled  in  carts  (PI.  V,  fig.  2)  loose  or  in  sacks,  the  latter  being  the 
most  popular  method.  These  sacks  are  hoisted  to  the  upper  floor  of 
the  factories  and  distributed  to  the  proper  storerooms.  There  is  also 
in  France  another  class  of  cider  makers,  who  buy  the  partly  fermented 
juice  from  the  small  growers  and  blend  and  work  it  up  to  suit  the 
trade  they  wish  to  supply.  These  are  known  as  "commercants." 
They  often  make  an  excellent  article,  but  they  are  also  charged  with  a 
vast  amount  of  trickery  in  the  production  of  sophisticated  goods. 

There  is,  in  the  great  crop  years,  an  extensive  railway  commerce  in 
cider  apples,  both  to  local  points  and  to  the  near  or  distant  states.  The 
shipments  are  made  loose  in  what  we  call  box  cars,  and  also  loose  or 
in  sacks  on  flat  cars  (PI.  V,  fig.  1).  The  method  of  shipping  in  sacks 
seems  to  be  preferred  in  France  and  might  well  be  copied  in  this 
country.  The  Germans  appear  to  prefer  handling  the  fruit  loose. 
No  railway  commerce  in  cider  apples  was  seen  in  England.  In  1900 
such  an  immense  crop  was  harvested  in  Normandy  that  the  local  rail- 
ways were  literally  blocked  with  fruit,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  on 
American  roads  when  great  quantities  of  coal  are  carried. 

At  the  local  factories  visited  in  France  great  stress  seems  to  be  laid 
upon  gathering  the  late  fruit  when  perfectly  dry  and  storing  at  once 
in  the  bins,  where  more  or  less  of  it  lies  until  January  and  February. 
There  appears  to  be  very  little  tendency  to  decay.  The  cider  maker 
judges  the  ripeness  of  the  fruit,  or  its  fitness  for  grinding,  by  pressing 
with  the  thumb  until  the  juice  exudes  or  by  breaking  the  fruit  in  half 
and  crushing  one  portion  in  his  hand  with  a  wringing  motion.  Great 
stress  is  laid  upon  grinding  at  the  best  period  of  ripeness  in  order  to 
secure  all  the  juice  possible  by  expressing.  Cleanliness  is  the  rule 
in  the  handling  of  fruit  in  France,  yet  some  dirty  bad  work  was  seen, 


Bui.  71,  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 


FIG.  1  .—TRAIN  LOADED  WITH  CIDER  APPLES  IN  SACKS,  FRANCE. 


FIG.  2.— Ox  CART  USED  FOR  HAULING  APPLES  IN  GERMANY. 


49 

the  fruit  being-  dumped  into  filthy  receptacles,  and  ground  and  pressed 
in  a  very  unsanitary  condition. 

In  Germany  there  is,  in  the  first  place,  much  less  specialization  in 
the  growing  and  handling  of  cider  fruits,  and  there  appears  to  be  much 
less  manufacturing  of  cider  by  small  landed  proprietors.  There  were, 
however,  small  makers  everywhere,  but  they  ordinarily  purchased 
their  fruit  as  miscellaneous  stock  from  various  sources,  and  paid  no 
attention  to  storing  and  maturing  the  same  by  a  definite  system,  but 
ground  it  up  as  needed. 

The  large  factories,  as  far  as  observed,  also  handled  the  fruit  less 
carefully  than  in  France.  It  was  purchased  in  wagonloads  and  car- 
loads and  dumped  into  great  bins  on  the  ground,  covered  or  uncovered. 
While,  on  the  whole,  it  was  handled  in  a  cleanly  manner,  no  attention 
seemed  to  be  paid  to  keeping  it  dry,  or  to  the  fine  points  of  ripening 
the  fruit.  At  one  large  factory  100,000  kilos  (100  tons)  of  fruit 
arrived  daily,  mostly  by  carloads,  and  was  dumped  into  a  great  open 
bin,  where  the  fruit  lay  in  the  open  from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet 
deep  until  wanted  for  grinding. 

As  cider  apples  are  an  incidental  and  not  a  special  crop  in  Germany, 
it  will  be  understood  that  harvesting  is  largely  a  matter  of  convenience 
rather  than  s}Tstem.  The  refuse  of  dessert  fruit,  together  with  the 
inferior  varieties  and  purely  cider  fruits,  are  collected  as  suits  the 
growers'  convenience,  and  disposed  of  at  the  factories  or  manufactured 
at  home  if  the  grower  is  also  a  cider  maker.  Cider  making  in  Ger- 
man}^ shows  a  strong  tendency  toward  the  factory  system,  and  the 
makers  have  the  technique  of  fermentation  well  worked  out,  but  that 
they  handle  a  fruit  inferior  to  that  of  the  French  and  with  much  less 
care  is  certainly  true. 

In  England  the  manufacture  of  cider  is  very  largely  in  the  hands  of 
the  farmers,  though  the  factory  idea  is  developing.  One  sees  chiefly 
the  same  old  customs  of  harvesting  and  handling  the  fruit  that  have 
prevailed  for  centuries.  There  is  in  general.no  attempt  at  storage. 
The  low-grade  fruit  (refuse  from  what  the  English  call  "  pot  fruit," 
i.  e.,  dessert  and  cooking  grades)  is  gathered  in  miscellaneous  piles  in 
the  orchard,  and  either  ground  from  these  piles  or  drawn  away  and 
sold  to  the  factories.  At  the  best  mills  the  fruit  is  graded  somewhat, 
so  as  to  properly  blend  the  same  at  grinding,  but  even  at  these  the 
fruit  may  be  seen  lying  in  heaps  on  the  sod  in  the  orchard  or  near-by 
lots  until  late  in  November.  This  practice  gives  to  this  fruit  a  very 
decided  earthy  flavor  and  odor,  and  in  some  cases  it  is  largehr  dam- 
aged by  decay.  At  Butleigh  Court  the  fruit  is  stored  in  a  loft  over 
the  press-room,  and  is  kept  in  clean,  dry  condition. 

A  method  advocated  by  some  in  England  is  to  make  temporary  bins 
in  the  field  by  using  hurdles  for  sides  and  bottom,  the  bottom  piece 
being  elevated  somewhat  from  the  ground  and  all  lashed  together  as 
17247— No.  71—03 4 


50 

shown  in  the  illustration  (fig.  1).  This  temporary  rack  is  matted  on 
the  bottom  and  sides  with  straw  and  the  fruit  is  then  poured  in.  Such 
an  arrangement  permits  of  holding  the  fruit  quite  clean,  and  it  can  be 
covered  with  straw  to  protect  from  early  freezes. 


•""•'AjHW»«-     \b,";'.»M$  ..,*<.<IW( 

FIG.  1.— Bin  made  of  hurdles  for  outdoor  storage  of  apples,  used  in  England. 

The  English  customs  of  handling  fruit  are  in  the  main  about  the  same 
as  those  in  the  United  States.  There  is  little  or  no  shipping  of  cider 
fruit,  such  as  there  is  in  France.  It  may  be  proper  to  say  here  that 
the  French  system  of  sacking  this  fruit  in  the  orchard  for  transporta- 
tion, either  by  wagon  or  rail,  seems  to  be  well  worthy  of  adoption 
by  us. 

CIDER-MAKING  ESTABLISHMENTS. 

The  present  manufacture  of  cider  in  Europe  embraces  establish- 
ments ranging  all  the  way  from  the  most  primitive  farm  affairs  to  the 
most  elaborate  modern  factory.  Primitive  methods  of  manufacture 
play  a  very  important  part  in  the  grand  total  of  product,  and  the  users 
of  primitive  apparatus  in  many  cases  make  an  article  equal  to  the  best 
product  of  modern  factories. 

Notwithstanding  the  tendency  everywhere  manifest  toward  the 
modern  factory  system,  it  seems  that  the  cider  industry  is  so  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  farm  that  it  should  be  the  effort  of  orchardists,  or  at 
least  of  small  communities,  to  conduct  this  work  at  home,  and  by 
making  superior  cider,  vinegar,  etc.,  from  unmerchantable  fruits, 
secure  to  themselves  the  very  satisfactory  profits  which  accrue  to  such 
a  business  rightly  conducted. 


51 

In  starting  a  cider-making  establishment  there  are  several  points  of 
importance  which  should  be  more  or  less  observed.  These  are: 
(1)  Supply  of  fruit;  (2)  supply  of  pure  water  easily  carried  into  the 
factory  under  some  pressure;  (3)  the  lay  of  the  ground  in  regard  to 
drainage,  and  the  building  of  cellars  or  basement  rooms;  (4)  conven- 
ience for  disposal  of  product,  proximity  to  railroad  station,  etc. 

These  conditions  are  of  equal  importance  to  the  small  maker  and  to 
the  large  factory. 

PRIMITIVE   METHODS   AND    APPLIANCES. 

Persons  employing  very  old  methods  of  manufacture  were  observed 
in  each  of  the  three  countries  visited,  but  particularly  in  France, 
where  there  is  in  common  use  the  old  "tour  a  auge"  mills;  in  fact,  a 


FIG.  2.— The  "tour  &  auge"  apple  crusher,  Normandy,  Prance. 

modification  of  them  is  in  use  in  some  of  the  large  factories  driven  by 
steam  power.  This  machine  is  also  in  use  in  England,  but  to  a  very 
limited  extent.  In  Germany,  ancient  hand  devices  were  in  use,  but 
the  ' '  tour  "  was  not  seen.  This  very  ancient  device  for  crushing  fruits 
before  expressing  the  must  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration 
(fig.  2).  It  is  constructed  of  stone  or  of  wood  or  by  putting  on  a 
heavy  layer  of  cement  over  an  iron  form.  Necessarily  the  trough 
must  be  made  of  some  material  that  will  not  be  acted  upon  by  the 
fruit  juices.  The  plan  of  construction  and  the  operation  are  very 
simple.  The  entire  apparatus  is  ordinarily  about  16  feet  in  diameter. 
The  outer  and  inner  walls  (fig.  2,  «,  a')  are  about  30  inches  high,  and 
inclose  a  circular  trough  (J),  in  which  the  grinding  or  crushing  is 
done.  This  trough  usually  narrows  toward  the  bottom,  being  about 
20  inches  wide  at  the  top  and  14  inches  at  the  bottom.  The  inner 


52 

wall  is  almost  perpendicular;  but  the  outer  slopes  decidedly  toward 
the  center  of  the  trough,  which  varies  in  depth,  but  14-  inches  is  the 
usual  depth.  Within  the  inner  circle,  or  cistern  (c),  rises  a  vertical 
column  to  a  support  above,  and  to  this  is  attached  the  radial  arms 
which  carry  the  crushers  (d}.  This  inner  space  or  cistern  is  some- 
times used  as  a  receptacle  for  the  fruit  before  grinding.  The  fruit 
falls  by  means  of  a  chute  from  the  storage  loft  into  this  cistern  as 
desired,  and  from  it  is  put  into  the  grinding  trough  with  a  wooden 
shovel. 

The  rollers  or  crushers  are  usually  made  of  a  firm  heavy  wood  with 
a  somewhat  corrugated  surface.  Rollers  are  also  made  of  granite,  but 
this  makes  them  very  heavy,  and  they  are  said  to  crush  the  seeds  of 
the  fruit,  which  is  not  desired.  These  huge  wheels  are  about  3  feet  in 
diameter,  and  about  6  inches  to  9  inches  on  the  faces.  The}"  are  set  so 
that  the}"  do  not  trail,  thus  covering  all  the  bottom  surface  of  the 
trough.  A  small  device,  not  shown,  follows  after  the  crushers  and 
scrapes  the  pomace  and  uncrushed  fruit  down  into  the  bottom  of  the 
trough. 

"Tours"  were  seen  with  only  one  large  broad-faced  crusher,  and 
with  various  other  modifications,  but  the  one  figured  seems  to  be  of 
the  typical  form.  Where  used  in  steam  mills,  they  are  rigged  with 
the  crushers  exactly  opposite  each  other,  on  fixed  radial  bars,  and  the 
perpendicular  shaft  is  turned  bjr  a  pinion  wheel.  In  this  manner  they 
are  driven  at  rather  high  speed,  and  are  used  principally  to  remix 
pomace  with  water  for  the  second  and  third  pressings. 

The  "tour,"  as  shown  in  the  illustration,  is  typical  of  those  used  by 
the  small  peasant  proprietors  in  France.  It  is  worked  by  a  horse  which 
patiently  plods  around  its  limited  circle,  becoming  so  used  to  the  work 
as  to  require  no  attention.  In  fact,  he  soon  learns  to  forage  on  the 
fruit  by  twisting  his  neck  so  as  to  gather  the  pomace  from  the  front 
crusher  as  it  revolves.  Hence  he  is  not  removed  for  feeding  until  the 
da}T's  work  is  done. 

The  fruit  is  thrown  into  the  trough  2  to  3  inches  deep  and  the  horse 
is  put  in  motion,  and  during  the  grinding,  the  attendant  is  busy  with 
other  duties,  as  fitting  up  the  "cheese,"  bearing  awajr  the  cider,  etc. 
The  fruit  will  be  reduced  to  pulp  in  twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  vary- 
ing with  its  texture.  The  attendant  then  turns  on  a  scraper,  attached 
at  the  rear  of  the  rollers,  which  shoves  the  pomace  into  a  heap  at  the 
side  adjacent  to  the  press.  From  here  it  is  lifted  with  a  wooden  shovel 
to  the  press  platform.  The  cheese  is  laid  up  very  much  as  with  us— 
viz,  wrapped  in  special  cloths — each  section  or  lozenge  i  to  5  inches 
deep.  Instead  of  cloth,  straw  is  often  used  to  divide  the  mass  of  the 
cheese  into  layers. 

To  put  up  a  cheese  with  straw  divisions,  a  bed  of  straight  straw  is 
spread  on  the  press  platform,  and  a  mass  of  pomace  is  evenly  distrib- 


53 

uted  over  it  to  the  depth  of  -t  or  5  inches.  This  is  then  covered  with 
a  .second  layer  of  .straw,  and  the  operation  is  repeated.  The  straw  is 
laid  on  very  carefully,  radiating-  outward,  the  butts  projecting1  a  bit 
over  the  edge  of  the  cheese.  The  workmen  are  very  adept  in  laying 
up  the  cheese  in  this  fashion,  and  produce  a  remarkably  true  even 
block  of  pomace.  When  completed,  the  edges  are  cut  down  straight, 
and  the  pomace  and  bits  of  straw  are  spread  on  top  of  the  cheese,  and 
then  all  is  ready  for  the  application  of  pressure.  The  interposed  beds 
of  straw  serve  excellently  to  drain  the  cheese  when  under  pressure. 
'Indeed,  this  method  has  strong  features  to  commend  it. 

After  removing  the  pomace  the  trough  is  resupplied  with  fruit,  and 
the  operation  is  repeated.  Thus  one  hand  attends  to  the  crushing,  lays 
up  the  cheese,  presses  out  the  must,  and  bears  it  away,  in  this  way 
working  up  about  2£  tons  of  fruit  daily.  The  fruit  is  ground  in 
batches,  as  just  described,  and  the  results  of  four  or  live  lots  go  to 
make  up  one  cheese.  When  this  is  completed,  the  horse  is  removed, 
and  the  press  is  started  on  the  cheese. 

There  are  many  styles  of  presses  used,  but  one  of  very  ancient  type 
is  worthy  of  rather  extended  description.  The  particular  one  here 
described  bore  dates  which  indicated  that  it  had  been  in  use  for  two 
hundred  }Tears,  and  this  style  was  formerly  the  only  power  press  used. 

The  essentials  of  this  structure  are  two  immense  beams  of  oak. 
These  beams  are  1-i  inches  square  and  20  feet  long.  One  constitutes 
the  base  and  rests  on  a  firm  foundation  to  which  it  is  securely  attached. 
On  this  a  short  distance  from  one  end  is  made  fast  the  platform  which 
supports  the  cheese.  The  other  beam  is  freely  movable.  At  the  end 
just  to  the  rear  of  the  cheese  platform  the  free  beam  moves  up  and 
down  between  two  strong  uprights,  which  are  mortised  through  at 
intervals  to  permit  of  heavy  cross  bars  being  inserted  to  support  the 
beam  at  any  desired  height.  The  other  end  is  unattached,  save  that  a 
large  wood  screw  passes  through  it  and  enters  a  huge  block  on  top  of 
it,  which  block  is  threaded  and  acts  as  a  nut.  This  wooden  screw  is 
attached  to  the  lower  beam,  but  works  freely  in  a  socket. 

While  the  cheese  is  building,  the  upper  beam  is  elevated,  front  and 
rear,  out  of  the  way.  When  ready  to  apply  pressure,  the  end  nearest 
the  cheese  is  let  down  on  the  heavy  blocking  which  covers  the  latter, 
and  is  then  securely  u  blocked"  by  means  of  cross  bars  so  it  can  not 
rise.  Then  the  other  end  is  lowered  until  the  beam  rests  fairly  on  the 
blocking  over  the  cheese.  Its  very  weight  causes  the  must  to  flow 
f  reel}7  at  once,  but  power  is  now  gradually  applied  by  running  down  the 
wooden  nut  until  it  rests  on  the  beam,  then  turning  the  great  wooden 
screw  slowly,  by  means  of  levers  inserted  in  large  augur  holes  through 
the  same,  until  this  beam  comes  into  a  horizontal  position.  The  pres- 
sure is  applied  very  slowly,  the  attendant  bearing  off  the  must,  as 
it  flows,  to  the  casks  in  the  adjacent  fermentation  room.  When  the 
flow  of  must  becomes  much  reduced,  the  screw  is  loosened,  the  front 


end  of  the  pressure  beam  is  raised,  and  this  causes  the  rear  end  to  fall 
lower,  so  that  it  can  be  again  blocked  down,  after  which  the  pressure 
is  reapplied.  This  operation  is  repeated  until  the  cheese  is  pressed 
sufficiently,  when  it  is  allowed  to  drain  for  some  time,  frequently  over 
night,  after  which  the  pomace  is  removed,  remashed  in  the  "tour," 
and  repressed.  When  reworking  this  pomace,  an  amount  of  water  is 
added  equal  to  about  one-fifth  of  the  juice  which  has  been  expressed 
from  it.  In  practice,  the  amount  of  must  secured  by  the  second 
pressing  is  about  equal  to  the  water  added.  This  reworking  of  the 
pomace  completes  the  usual  routine,  and  a  cheese  of  fresh  fruit  is  now 


FIG.  3. — Primitive  apple  grater  in  use  in  Germany. 

ground,  and  laid  up  as  before.  By  this  system,  about  400  gallons  of 
first  and  second  pressings  are  obtained  daily  with  the  labor  of  practi- 
cally but  one  man  and  one  horse.  With  this  lever  press  the  use  of  a 
rack  or  frame  of  any  kind  to  hold  the  pomace  is  impracticable. 
Evidently  these  latter  appliances  have  come  into  use  along  with  the 
direct  screw  press. 

A  few  illustrations  (figs.  3,  4,  and  5)  showing  primitive  methods  in 
use  in  German}'  are  reproduced  from  Johannes  Bottner's  recent  book 
on  cider  making,  but  there  is  so  little  in  these  to  commend  that  they 
will  not  be  discussed.  They  are  sufficiently  self-explanatoiy. 


55 

It  may  not  be  known  to  many  Americans  that  John  Bartram,  the 
pioneer  American  botanical  collector,  made  and  used  a  "tour  a  auge" 
cider  mill  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill  in  the  early  days  of  Pennsyl- 


FIG.  4.— Primitive  single-lever  cider  press  in  use  in  Germany. 

vania.  The  circular  trough,  hewn  in  the  great  rock  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  yet  remains;  also  the  rock-hewn  cistern — mute  witnesses  to  his 
ingenuity.  From  these  portions  one  can  in  imagination  easily  recon- 


FIG.  5.— Primitive  double-lever  cider  press  in  use  in  Germany. 

struct  the  rest  of  the  mill.  This  system  was  very  evidently  in  use  in 
the  early  days  in  New  Jersey  and  elsewhere  among  the  colonial 
farmers  for  crushing  their  fruit,  but  no  description  or  detailed  account 
of  its  use  in  America  has  been  found. 


56 


MODERN    METHODS    AND    APPLIANCES. 

There  is  a  wide  range  of  procedure  in  grinding1  and  pressing  cider 
fruit  between  the  distinctly  primitive  appliances  and  method*  and 
those  of  the  modern  factory  system.  Machines  of  small  and  medium 
'capacit}7  are  numerous  abroad,  and  range  from  the  smallest  handmills 
of  the  meanest  construction,  with  wooden  rollers  for  crushing  the 
fruit,  to  the  finest  hand  and  power  machines  of  the  best  scientific 
construction. 

As  a  general  thing  the  mills  which  employ  a  hopper  into  which  the 
fruit  is  thrown,  whence  it  is  fed  (by  gravity)  onto  a  rotary  grating  or 

crushing  device,  marks 
the  initial  departure  of 
modern  machines  from 
primitive  ones.  Of  such 
machines  there  is  a  great 
variety  in  use  in  Europe, 
but  there  is  very  little  to 
commend  in  them  with  one 
exception,  to  which  atten 
tion  will  be  called  here- 
after. Man}-  of  these  mills 
were  either  American 
machines  or  modifications 
of  well-known  American 
types,  which  do  not  need 
to  be  described  here.  But 
there  is  one  type  of  rotary 
grinding  or  crushing  ma- 
chine found  very  com- 
monly in  Germany,  but 
much  less  frequently  in 
France  and  England, 

FIG.  6.— The  "greif "  apple  crusher  of  Germany.  which  appears  to  deserve 

description  and  illustra- 
tion. The  origin  of  this  mill  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  thought  to  be  Ger- 
man. It  can  readily  be  used  for  either  hand  or  power  work.  This 
mill  is  called  in  German  the  "greif"  (grip)  fruit  mill,  and  it  is  probably 
the  best  type  for  use  in  ordinaiy  work.  It  is  shown  as  used  for  hand 
work  in  figure  0.  In  principle  this  mill  goes  back  to  that  of  the  ancient 
"tour  a  auge,"  viz,  that  of  crushing  the  fruit  instead  of  rasping  or 
grating  it,  but  it  appears  to  accomplish  this  with  greater  perfection. 
The  capacity,  of  course,  depends  on  the  size  of  the  mill. 

In  general,  experienced  persons  admit  the  desirability  of  preventing, 
as  far  as  possible,  the  contact  of  the  pomace  and  must  with  metals  such 
as  iron.  With  the  mills  known  as  graters,  which  are  now  practically 


57 


the  only  important  kind  of  mills  on  the  American  market,  this  end  is 
not  secured,  for  the  pulp  is  all  brought  into  contact  with  metal  sur- 
faces. With  the  •*  greif"  machine  this  is  not  the  case  to  the  same 
extent.  A  further  disadvantage  of  the  grater  mill,  of  perhaps  more 
importance  from  a  practical  standpoint,  is  that  the  best  grater  mills 
will  not  continue  to  prepare  the  pomace  in  the  best  manner  unless  the 
grater  knives  are  frequently  reground.  This  requires  time  and  skill, 
and  is  a  distinct  drawback  to  their  use  in  the  ordinary  country  factory. 
The  "  greif  *'  mill,  on  the  other  hand,  can  be  adjusted  for  fine  or  coarse 
pomace,  as  may  be  desired,  in  a  minute,  and  it  has  the  still  more  impor- 
tant advantage  of  reducing  the  fruit  to  pomace  by  bruising  or  crushing 
the  tissues. 

The  ''greif"  mill  in  general 
aspect  appears  not  unlike  many 
American  hand  or  small  power 
mills,  but  in  the  essentials  it  is 
entirely  different.  The  fruit 
when  thrown  into  the  hopper, 
falls  upon  a  slotted  bottom 
(fig.  7).  This  may  be  made  of 
hard  wood  or  of  metal.  There 
is  also  a  board  slotted  to  corre- 
spond to  the  bottom  at  the  back 
side  of  the  hopper,  which  de- 
flects the  fruit  forward,  so  that 
it  only  comes  onto  the  slotted 
bottom  at  the  front  side  of  the 
hopper.  The  crank  or  driving 
wheel  is  attached  to  a  shaft  (d), 
which  rests  just  over  the  slot- 
ted bottom  of  the  hopper,  and  to  this  .shaft  are  attached  slightly 
curved  arms  (e),  6  to  8  inches  long,  which,  as  the  shaft  revolves,  catch 
the  fruit  and  crush  it  through  the  slots  in  the  bottom  of  the  hopper. 
One  of  these  arms  can  be  seen  in  the  section  of  the  hopper  shown  in 
figure  8.  Thus  the  fruit  is  more  or  less  broken  before  it  comes  in 
contact  with  the  crushers. 

The  two  stone  rollers  which  crush  the  fruit  are  shown  in  perspective 
and  cross  section  in  figure  9,  and  in  situation  at  #,  figure  8.  They 
are  made  of  granite  or  of  millstone  grit,  and  mounted  on  shafts.  The 
surfaces  are  cut  with  a  slight  spiral  corrugation.  By  use  of  a  regulat- 
ing screw  (fig.  8,y),  one  of  these  rollers  can  be  made  to  approach  the 
other,  so  as  to  regulate  the  crushing  of  the  fruit  as  may  be  desired. 
The  French  and  German  operators  wish  to  pulp  the  fruit  as  finely  as 
possible  without  crushing  or  grinding  the  seeds. 


FIG.  7.— Slotted  bottom  of  hopper  used  in  "greif" 
machine. 


58 

The  feeding  arms  (fig.  7,  e)  are  placed  spirall}*  around  the  shaft  (d), 
so  that  only  one  is  delivering  fruit  at  the  same  moment,  but  this  posi- 
tion insures  a  constant  feed,  and  the  size  of  the  slots  is  such  that  no 
whole  fruit  can  be  delivered  to  the  crushers.  By  means  of  the  cog 
gearing  driven  from  the  shaft  to  which  is  attached  the  crank  or  drive 
wheel,  the  crushers  are  made  to  revolve  inward  at  the  desired  rate  of 
speed.  The  spiral  corrugations  are  so  cut  that  they  cross  each  other 
at  an  angle  which  adds  very  materially  to  the  crushing  or  pulping 
effect  of  this  mill. 

So  far  as  was  observed,  this  apparatus  seems  well  adapted  either  to 
hand  or  power  work,  and  gives  good  results.  Its  most  important 


FIG.  8. — "Greif  "  apple  crusher,  sectional  view  of  hopper. 

advantages  are,  (1)  the  pomace  is  not  brought  so  much  in  contact 
with  metal  surfaces,  as  is  the  case  with  grating  mills;  (2)  it  can  be 
regulated  to  grind  fine  or  coarse  very  quickly  and  with  certainty,  and 
(3)  the  operator  is  entirety  freed  from  the  task  of  removing  and  grind- 
ing knives. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  fruit  must  be  caref ully  freed  from  stones, 
sticks,  and  the  like,  or  a  breakdown  of  the  working  parts  is  sure  to 
occur.  The  grater  mills,  with  spring  adjusted  concaves,  are  not 
nearly  so  liable  to  such  mishaps. 

This  German  mill  appears  to  be  coming  into  favor  in  England.  The 
ordinary  mills  of  other  styles  presented  no  points  of  special  importance. 


Bui.  71,  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  U.  S   Dept.  Agr. 


PLATE  VI. 


FIQ.  1.— ITINERANT  CIDER  MAKERS  AT  WORK  IN  STREETS.    STRAW 
USED  IN  BUILDING  UP  CHEESE,  RENNES,  FRANCE. 


FIQ.  2.— SIMILAR  OUTFIT  MOUNTED  FOR  TRAVEL,  WAITING  FOR  A 
JOB,  TROUVILLE,  FRANCE. 


59 


American  mills  and  presses  are  to  be  seen  in  use  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  The  presses  used  ordinarily  with  medium-sized  modern 
machines  are  of  the  screw  types,  either  with  a  descending  screw  or  a 
screw  firmly  set  in  the  base  of  the  press  and  with  falling  head  blocks. 

In  France  most  of  the  small  mills  are  of  the  grater  type,  with  adjust- 
able concaves  for  pressing  the  fruit  firmly  against  the  grinding  cylin- 
der. These  machines  are  scarcely  worthy  of  special  illustration,  but 
the  very  common  custom  of  making  cider  in  the  streets  of  the  small 
towns  and  cities  of  the  French  cider  districts  is  so  unique  as  to  deserve 
some  notice. 

It  is  a  very  common  sight  in 
Rennes,  Trouville,  Nantes,  and 
other  west  coast  towns  to  see 
small  outfits  placed  in  the  street 
(Plate  VI)  or  on  the  sidewalk 
grinding  and  pressing  small 
quantities  of  fruit  for  the 
householders  or  the  small 
shopkeepers.  The  mills  pre- 
sent ordinarily  no  features 
that  are  unusual  and  are  quite 
uniformly  graters  operated  by 
hand.  Sometimes  the  frame  is 
mounted  on  wheels  or  wooden 
rollers  so  that  it  can  be  trun- 
dled-from  place  to  place.  The 
presses  likewise  are  at  times 
mounted  on  wheels,  as  shown 
in  the  illustration.  Practi- 
cally all  presses  used  for 
street  work  are  of  the  central 
screw  type,  the  power  being 
applied  by  means  of  a  huge 

nut  which  is  turned  down  by  means  of  levers.  The  cheese  is  either 
laid  up  in  a  crib  frame  or  with  straw  divisions,  as  previously  explained. 

FACTORY    SYSTEMS. 

In  the  three  leading  cider-producing  countries  of  Europe  are  to  be 
found  well- developed  factory  systems  differing  considerably  from 
one  another.  Hence  it  is  necessary  to  take  up  several  types  which 
present  certain  characteristics  and  treat  each  separately. 

FRENCH    FACTORIES. 

Although  there  is  much  to  commend  in  the  cider  fruits,  the  facto- 
ries, and  ciders  of  the  French,  yet  there  was  much  one  could  not  coni- 


FIG.  9. — Crushing  cylinders  of  the  "greif  "  machine. 


60 


mend  in  their  systems  of  manufacture.  It  is  proposed  to  notice, 
first  of  all,  one  of  these  factories  run  on  what  seemed  to  be  question- 
able methods.  There  is  a  very  modern  school  of  French  cider  makers, 
whose  claims  and  pretentions  deserve  more  than  passing  notice, 
especially  since  it  is  proposed  to  introduce  their  system  into  the  United 
States. 

The  system  referred  to  is  known  in  France  as  the  Noel  system,  and 
involves  pretended  secret  processes  which  it  is  claimed  perform 
wonders  in  the  handling  of  cider  fruit,  the  storage  and  keeping  of 
ciders,  etc.  The  writer  had  several  conferences  with  the  promoters  of 
this  scheme  in  Paris,  and  was  offered  full  instruction  in  the  methods 
for  a  period  of  seventy  or  eighty  days  for  30,000  francs,  on  condition 
that  the  methods  should  never  be  divulged!  During  these  conferences 


FIG.  10. — Fermentation  and  storage  room,  Noel  system,  France. 

and  later  in  visiting  some  of  the  factories  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
so-called  system  consisted  of  nothing  peculiarly  valuable.  The  pro- 
cedure was  much  the  same  as  in  other  factories.  The  fruit  was  ground 
and  pressed,  then  the  pomace  was  exhausted  by  diffusion  with  warm 
water,  a  method  often  used  in  France,  and  the  resulting  musts  were 
united  and  sugared  to  a  condition  which  would  make  a  fair  cider.  A 
great  pretense  was  made  of  securing  valuable  principles  lost  to  others 
by  exhausting  the  marc  in  warm  water.  By  sugaring  up  the  weak 
must  secured  by  exhausting  the  pomace  with  water,  about  double  the 
quantity  of  cider  is  made  that  can  be  usually  obtained  by  using  pure 
juice.  This  is  truly  an  old  secret!  However,  the  plan  of  one  factory 
which  was  twice  visited  is  quite  unique,  and  for  that  reason  is  pre- 
sented somewhat  fully.  The  building  is  a  fine  new  brick  structure 
in  a  suburb  of  Versailles.  The  surroundings  are  much  like  those  of  a 


61 

home.  The  family  lives  in  the  front  of  the  structure,  and  here  the 
office  is  also  located.  Extending  back  from  the  front  is  a  rectangular 
structure  two  stories  high  and  about  40  feet  wide  by  150  feet  long. 
The  lower  story  of  this  rear  structure  comprises  one  large  room  with 
very  heavy  brick  walls  without  windows.  This  room  is  entered  from 
the  front  by  large  doors,  and  has  a  rear  door  of  smaller  size.  Along 
the  sides  of  this  room,  against  the  walls,  are  ranged  great  tanks  about 
60  in  number  with  total  capacity  reaching  possibly  200,000  gallons. 

The  illustration  (fig.  10)  shows  a  perspective  view  down  the  center 
of  the  room.  Each  tank  is  furnished  with  a  faucet  near  the  bottom, 
and  a  glass  tube  communicating  with  the  interior  rises  the  full  height 
of  the  tank,  showing  at  a  glance  the  height  of  the  liquor  within.  The 
top  is  tightly  closed,  but  a  manhole  for  entering  the  tank  and  taps  for 
introducing  the  must  are  provided.  The  center  of  this  room  is  occu- 
pied by  casks,  pumps,  and  paraphernalia  for  racking  and  handling  the 
cider.  Also  great  cart  loads  of  fruit  in  sacks  are  brought  from  the 
railway  station,  driven  to  the  center  of  this  floor,  and  elevated  to 
the  upper  story  by  a  power  lift,  worked  by  a  gasoline  engine  in  the 
second  story. 

The  second  story  is  used  to  store  fruit,  and  here  is  also  located  the 
grinder,  the  gasoline  engine  which  furnishes  all  the  power  for  the 
plant,  and  the  tubs  or  tanks  for  exhausting  the  pomace.  The  fruit 
for  grinding  is  thrown  into  a  tank  of  water  in  which  rests  the  lower 
end  of  an  elevator  screw  which  lifts  it  to  the  grinding  cylinders.  From 
the  grinder  the  pomace  falls  into  the  press,  where  it  is  made  up  into 
cheeses  after  the  American  fashion  and  pressed  immediately.  The 
object  of  throwing  the  fruit  into  the  tank  of  water  is  to  wash  it,  which 
is  fairly  well  accomplished  by  the  motion  of  the  elevator  screw. 

The  exhaustion  of  the  pomace  after  pressing  is  accomplished  by 
diffusion  with  warm  water,  as  already  stated.  The  operations  of 
blending  and  sugaring  were  not  shown,  nor  were  the  details  of  the 
system  of  fermenting  and  racking  explained  other  than  in  vague 
terms.  However,  the  must  is  both  fermented  and  stored  on  the  first 
floor  and  is  run  off  into  casks  for  market  as  desired. 

The  product,  as  sampled  in  several  stages  of  manufacture,  was  very 
inferior,  and  had  little  resemblance  to  that  of  standard  Normandy 
ciders.  This  factory  is  making  about  200,000  gallons  of  cider  annually. 
The  construction  of  the  factory,  arrangement  of  machinery,  tanks, 
etc.,  is  quite  unique,  and  apparently  advantageous. 

A  characteristic  of  the  French  "cidreries"  was  the  almost  total 
absence  of  cellars.  Thus,  in  the  factory  just  described  the  storage  is 
wholly  above  ground.  This  is  the  rule  in  France,  while  just  the 
opposite  is  true  of  Germany. 

La  Cidrerie  de  V  Union  Agricole. — The  best  type  of  factory  examined 
in  the  French  cider  country  is  that  of  an  agricultural  union  at  St. 


62 

Ouen-de-Thouberville,  a  short  distance  from  Rouen.  This  establish- 
ment, built  and  operated  upon  a  cooperative  plan,  is  a  model  in  its 
mechanical  appointments,  and  the  technique  of  its  operations  seemed 
to  leave  little  to  be  desired.  The  general  manager  is  Monsieur  Gus- 
tave  Power,  the  noted  authority  on  pomology,  whose  books  have  been 
officially  adopted  by  the  minister  of  agriculture  for  use  in  the  schools 
of  France.  The  writer  was  most  courteously  received  by  this  cultured 
gentleman,  and  given  every  facility  to  examine  and  study  the  details 
and  methods  of  the  establishment,  which  is,  perhaps,  representative  of 
the  best  type  in  France. 

The  ground  plan  of  the  main  factory  is  shown  in  figure  12.  In  total 
dimensions,  the  building  is  approximately  300  feet  long  by  100  feet 
wide.  A  study  of  the  vertical  longitudinal  section  (fig.  11)  will  help 
to  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  plan  and  workings  of  this  factory.  It  will 
be  seen  that  to  the  rear  of  the  main  operating  room  of  the  ground  floor 
one  can  step  up  a  few  feet  into  the  main  fermenting  room,  or  down  a 
few  feet  into  a  half -cellar  used  for  the  finishing  processes  of  fermen- 
tation and  for  storage.  The  surface  of  the  ground  slopes  from  the 
front  to  the  rear  of  the  building,  so  that  this  lower  room  ends  at  ground 
level.  This  gives  an  important  advantage  in  the  ease  with  which  the 
finished  product  can  be  loaded  on  trucks  for  transport. 

The  operation  of  this  factory  will  be  better  understood  by  following 
the  usual  course  of  the  fruit  and  must  as  they  pass  through  the  sev- 
eral processes  to  the  finished  product.  The  carts  laden  with  apples  in 
sacks  enter  the  shed  in  front  of  the  factory,  and  by  a  hoist,  operated 
from  the  main  shaft  within,  the  fruit  is  lifted  to  the  second  floor, 
where  it  is  weighed  and  put  in  bins  according  to  varieties  and  quality. 
These  bins  cover  nearly  all  of  the  second  floor,  and  are  only  18  inches 
deep,  strict  rules  as  to  methods  of  storage  being  observed.  With  the 
fruit  thus  distributed,  it  is  possible  to  observe  critically  its  condition 
and  to  grind  as  it  comes  to  proper  maturity;  also  .the  careful  distribu- 
tion in  accordance  with  the  quality  makes  it  easy  to  blend  the  fruit  so 
as  to  produce  desired  grades  of  must. 

When  ready  to  grind,  the  fruit  is  measured  to  the  machine  in  proper 
proportions.  The  grinder  stands  at  the  floor  level  of  this  storeroom. 
Formerly  the  fruit  was  washed,  but  now  this  is  only  resorted  to  in 
case  of  necessity.  The  fruit  is,  however,  run  over  a  slatted  "way"  or 
chute  in  its  progress  to  the  cylinders  and  much  trash  is  screened  out, 
an  attendant  watching  that  foreign  substances  likely  to  damage  the 
grinders  do  not  pass.  From  the  grinders  the  pulp  drops  into  a 
chute,  which  delivers  it  at  the  pleasure  of  the  operator  into  one  or 
another  of  the  several  pomace  vats.  The  custom  is  to  fill  one  after 
another  of  the  vats,  the  pulp  being  allowed  to  remain  for  some  hours 
before  pressing.  This  maceration  of  the  pulp  in  its  own  juice  is 
thought  to  aid  in  extracting  the  sugar  content  and  to  give  better  color 
to  the  must  through  certain  chemical  changes  caused  by  the  action  of 


63 


64 

the  air  on  the  crushed  tissues.     The  pulp  is  not,  however,  and  never 
should  be,  allowed  to  ferment  before  pressing. 


The  pulp  vats  at  this  factory  were  made  of  porcelain  tiles  carefully  set 
in  cement.     A  drain  pipe  was  arranged  to  carry  the  must,  which  always 


65 

flows  from  freshly  crushed  fruit,  into  a  cistern  at  the  left  of  these  vats. 
From  here  it  was  pumped  into  the  large  casks  in  the  fermentation 
room.  The  large  vat  (tig.  12,  Z>)  is  provided  for  the  maceration  of 
pomace  after  it  has  been  through  the  press. 

When  the  pulp  is  thought  to  be  in  condition  for  the  press  a  small 
car  is  run  alongside  and  the  pulp  is  laid  up  in  cheeses  on  a  form,  using 
coarsely  woven  press  cloths  just  as  is  done  in  the  best  American  fac- 
tories. When  this  car  is  loaded  it  is  run  onto  the  press  (D1 ',  tigs.  11 
and  12),  and  the  hydraulic  pump  is  put  in  motion,  the  car  and  its  load 
of  pulp  being  lifted  by  the  upward  thrust  of  a  hydraulic  piston  after 
the  manner  so  common  in  this  country.  In  this  factor}r  the  hydraulic 
presses  were  rated  at  200,000  pounds  direct  pressure. 

While  this  load  of  pulp  is  under  pressure  another  car  is  loaded 
ready  to  take  its  place.  On  being  released  from  the  press  the  car  is 
run  alongside  the  large  vat  and  the  pressed  pomace  is  discharged  into 
it,  carefully  cut  up  with  a  shovel  and  wet  with  weak  must  or  water, 
the  amount  of  liquor  added  being  about  equal  to  the  pure  juice 
expressed.  This  round  of  operations  is  repeated  until  the  day's  grind- 
ing is  exhausted,  and  the  pomace  from  the  first  pressing  then  rests  in 
the  large  vat  macerating  in  water  or  weak  must  until  thought  ready 
for  pressing  a  second  time.  The  must  from  the  fresh  pulp  in  the  vats 
and  cistern  is  united  in  the  great  casks  of  the  fermentation  room  as 
pure  juice.  This  is  destined  for  the  highest  grade  cider. 

After  eight  to  ten  or  twelve  hours  maceration  the  pomace  is  again 
subjected  to  pressure  on  a  different  press  (D,  fig.  11)  from  that  used 
for  pure  juice,  and  the  must  is  received  in  another  cistern  near  by 
and  pumped  into  another  set  of  casks.  This  must  is  used  to  make  a 
second  grade  of  cider,  the  "boisson"  of  the  laborers.  But  this  does 
not  complete  the  operation.  Again  the  pomace  undergoes  maceration 
with  water  or  weak  must,  being  then  pressed  a  third  time.  The  must 
from  this  pressing  is  very  weak,  its  specific  gravity  being  1.010  to 
1.016.  This  must  is  used  to  macerate  the  pomace  after  the  first  press- 
ing, thus  adding  very  materially  to  the  quality  of  the  must  derived 
from  the  second  pressing. 

The  pomace  is  no  longer  of  any  value  for  cider  purposes.  It  may, 
therefore,  be  discharged  by  running  the  car  outside  the  factoiy,  or  it 
may  be  ground  anew  and  washed  to  separate  the  seeds,  which  return 
no  small  income,  as  they  are  in  great  demand  by  nurserymen  for 
growing  stocks.  These  seeds  are  known  in  commerce  in  this  country 
as  French  "crab  seed,"  but  they  are  really  seeds  of  the  cultivated 
apple  and  not  of  crabs. 

A  second  method  of  extracting  the  juice  from  the  apple  pulp  is  also 

employed  in  this  factory,  viz,  diffusion.     The  diffusion  battery  (6r,  fig. 

12)  is  located  at  the  extreme  left  of  the  main  operating  room.     It 

consists  of  6  tanks,  about  3£  to  -4  feet  high,  mounted  on  a  turntable. 

17247— No.  71—03 5 


66 

Immediately  at  one  side  and  just  above  the  level  of  the  tanks  is  a  res- 
ervoir for  water.  This  may  be  supplied  warm  or  cold. 

To  put  this  apparatus  in  operation,  5  of  the  tanks  are  filled  with  cut 
or  pulped  fruit.  These  are  so  connected  that  the  fluid  will  circulate 
from  one  tank  to  another  by  means  of  a  tube  connected  at  the  bottom 
of  the  first  and  delivering  the  flow  near  the  top  of  the  second,  and  so 
on  around  the  circle.  By  the  time  the  fluid  flows  out  from  the  bottom 
of  the  fifth  tub  it  is  well  charged  with  the  soluble  matters  contained 
in  the  fruit,  i.  e.,  sugars,  acid,  tannin,  mucilage,  etc.  But  it  can 
never  be  made  to  equal  in  richness  the  product  of  the  first  pressing 
from  the  same  fruit. 

As  soon  as  the  fruit  in  the  first  tank  is  exhausted  by  this  washing 
with  water,  the  stream  is  turned  into  the  second,  and  the  sixth  tank,  now 
freshly  filled  with  pulp,  is  put  in  service  as  the  final  member  of  the 
battery.  Then  the  first  tank  is  emptied  and  refilled  with  fresh  fruit 
to  take  the  last  place  in  the  series,  when  the  third  tank  becomes  the 
first  cell  in  the  battery.  Thus  the  operation  proceeds  indefinitely. 
It  should  be  said  that  the  richness  of  the  must  delivered  at  the  exit 
from  the  fifth  cell  always  determines  when  a  fresh  tub  or  cell  must  be 
"cut  in, "as  the  flow  through  the  last  tub  of  fresh  fruit  strengthens 
the  must  very  much.  The  strength  or  richness  is  taken  by  specific 
gravity  very  readily. 

The  manufacture  of  cider  by  the  diffusion  method  is  carried  on  in 
France  to  a  considerable  extent,  but  its  present  importance  does  not 
appear  to  warrant  extended  discussion  here.  It  may  be  worthy  of 
study,  but  all  the  indications  seem  to  point  to  its  failure  to  produce  a 
genuine  high-grade  cider. 

In  the  factory  at  St.  Ouen-de-Thouberville  two  hand  presses  were 
provided  as  a  reserve  to  be  used  in  case  of  accident  to  the  hydraulic 
presses. 

The  main  operations  prior  to  fermentation  have  now  been  outlined. 
The  must  of  the  several  grades  has  been  delivered  by  pumps  to  the 
large  casks  in  the  fermentation  room  (figs.  11  and  12).  Through  each 
section  of  this  part  of  the  building  runs  a  main  brass  pipe  connecting 
with  the  pumps.  The  flow  is  readily  turned  into  the  desired  section 
by  valve  cut-offs,  and  in  each  section  the  must  is  delivered  to  the 
receptacles  by  rubber  tubes  which  can  be  attached  to  the  "  main"  at 
convenient  points.  Each  cask  as  filled  is  marked  with  the  date  and 
such  other  data  as  are  necessary  to  guide  the  operator  in  the  details  of 
the  fermentation.  At  the  same  time  proper  entries  are  made  in  the 
factory  journal  for  future  reference. 

The  technique  of  fermentation  is  not  discussed  here,  as  it  will  be 
treated  further  on  in  this  report.  It  should  be  added,  however,  that 
Mr.  Power  was  using  casks  usually  of  600  liters  capacity  or  larger, 
open  vats  made  of  slate,  and  great  tanks  b}^  way  of  experiment  during 
the  first  fermentation;  but  his  preference  was  for  the  casks. 


67 

From  the  upper  room,  where  the  first  fermentation  occurs,  the  cider 
runs  by  gravity  at  first  racking  to  the  room  below,  which  is  a  sort  of 
half  cellar.  Here  it  usually  rests  until  it  is  finished  cider.  The  rail- 
ways shown  on  the  ground  plan  are  in  this  lower  room  and  serve  to 
carry  the  finished  cider  in  casks  of  proper  size  for  transportation  to  a 
platform  at  the  lower  side  of  the  factory,  from  which  they  are  rolled 
onto  the  great  carts  without  lifting,  an  advantage  of  considerable 
importance. 

The  space  shown  in  the  illustration,  however,  is  not  sufficient  for 
the  product  of  this  factory,  and  five  cisterns  adjoining  the  lower  store- 
room augment  the  storage  capacity  by  60,000  gallons.  These  are 
made  of  slate  laid  in  cement,  and  the  cider  stored  in  them  keeps  per- 
fectly. When  it  is  necessary  to  bring  them  into  use,  the  cider  flows 
by  gravity  to  them  from  the  lower  storeroom.  They  are  carefully 
closed  as  filled,  and  only  opened  as  it  becomes  necessary  to  pump  the 
cider  out  for  commerce.  This  factory  has  a  total  annual  capacity  of 
about  350,000  gallons.  The  laboratory  is  of  very  great  importance, 
and  here  Mr.  Power  makes  analyses  of  fruits  and  of  the  product  at 
various  stages  of  manufacture  so  that  all  may  be  well  governed. 


GERMAN   FACTORIES. 


Among  German  cider  makers  of  the  Taunus  and  Rhinegau  districts 
to  propose  fermenting  the  must  in  other  than  good  cellars  would  be 
heretical.  The  cellar  is  here  the  first  essential.  Everywhere  the 
small  proprietor  and  the  great  manufacturer  work  on  essentially  the 
same  principles.  These  cellars  are  most  excellently  built  of  good 
masonry,  the  walls  being  finished  in  hard  mortar  and  the  floors  in 
cement,  as  though  they  were  intended  to  endure  for  ages.  Drainage, 
ventilation,  hoists,  and  the  like  are  carefully  looked  after. 

Dr.  Cluss,  in  his  recent  work  on  cider  making,  bemoans  the  careless- 
ness and  lack  of  method  observed  in  some  parts  of  Germany,  but  in 
the  districts  visited  by  the  writer  the  people  have  the  details  well  in 
hand.  Only  a  few  types  of  factories  which  illustrate  those  seen  can  be 
taken  up  in  this  report. 

The  mills  most  generally  in  use  in  Germany  for  grinding  or  crushing 
the  fruit  are  either  single-cylinder  rasping  or  grating  mills  or  two- 
cylinder  crushers  ("greif  "  mills.)  The  simple  grater  mill  serves  its 
purpose  very  well,  but  the  consensus  of  opinion  seems  to  be  decidedly 
in  favor  of  the  stone  cylinder  crusher  (figs.  6-9).  This  mill,  in  dif- 
fferent  sizes,  was  found  in  use,  some  being  driven  by  small  steam  or 
gasoline  engines.  In  fact  small  factories  with  good  appliances  and 
good  cellars  are  quite  common  in  the  territory  visited. 

The  German  cider  maker  may  have  a  building  devoted  entirely  to 
that  purpose,  as  the  large  makers  invariably  do,  or,  as  in  the  case  of 
farmers  and  other  small  makers,  he  may  use  only  a  portion  of  a  build- 
ing, the  balance  being  used  for  other  purposes.  The  grinding  and 


68 

pressing  rooms  may  be  additions  built  onto  another  structure,  the  cellar 
extending  under  the  whole.'  In  no  case  was  fruit  seen  stored  in  upper 
rooms  or  lofts,  but  usually  on  the  floor  of  the  operating  room  or  in  bins 
adjacent.  The  small  makers  seem  to  make  little  or  no  provision  for 
storage,  and  the  grinding  and  pressing,  so  far  as  observed,  were  con- 
ducted on  the  ground  floor.  In  the  small  plants  this  requires  only 
a  moderate  amount  of  floor  space,  the  power  plant  and  grinder  being 
near  each  other  and  the  presses  adjacent.  The  pulp  was  almost  invari- 
ably allowed  to  stand  for  some  hours  before  pressing.  The  Germans 
usually  have  large  tubs,  holding,  say,  10  hectoliters  (264  gallons)  of 
fruit  pulp,  and  into  these  the  crushed  fruit  is  at  once  placed  as  soon  as 
it  falls  from  the  mill.  Even  the  largest  factory  visited,  having  an 
annual  output  of  over  500,000  gallons  of  cider,  pursues  this  rather  cum- 
bersome method.  In  large  factories  this  requires  a  great  amount  of 
floor  space  and  seems  to  necessitate  an  enormous  waste  of  labor,  but  it 
is  thought  satisfactory  by  the  proprietors.  Small  plants  usually  grind 
only  enough  fruit  to  make  one  or  two  cheeses  at  a  time,  and  hence 
proceed  at  a  rate  which,  in  this  country,  would  be  considered  wasteful 
of  time. 

The  manner  of  laying  up  the  cheese  is  in  the  main  the  same  as  in 
our  best  appointed  mills  in  which  cribs  are  still  used  to  hold  the  pulp 
during  pressing.  The  cheese  cloth  has  not  made  headway  in  Germany. 
The  cribs,  usually  circular,  are  very  well  made. 

After  maceration  for  a  period  varying  from  twelve  to  twenty-four 
hours,  the  pulp  is  brought  to  the  press  and  submitted  to  as  heavy 
pressure  as  possible  by  hand  power,  the  drop  screw  press  being  largely 
used,  but  also  those  with  the  screw  on  a  central  stern.  The  pressure  is 
applied  for  a  considerable  period  until  the  cheese  is  carefully  drained; 
then  the  pomace  is  thrown  up  and  finely  broken,  and  either  macerated 
with  water,  as  in  France,  or  allowed  to  rest  for  a  period  when  it  is 
pressed  a  second  time  in  a  stronger  press.  The  Germans  do  not  use 
much  water  in  macerating  pomace  for  repressing;  in  fact,  a  very 
small  amount  was  used  where  the  operations  were  observed.  The 
best  German  factories  inspected  did  not  use  water  at  all,  but  these 
were  equipped  with  hydraulic  as  well  as  hand  presses,  and  the  press- 
ing was  completed  at  a  pressure  of  250  atmospheres  on  the  hydraulic 
presses. 

The  differences  between  French  and  German  fruit  in  sugar  content 
have  some  bearing  on  the  use  of  water  in  macerating.  At  no  time 
was  must  observed  flowing  from  the  press  in  German  mills  which 
was  above  50°  Ochsle  (1.050  specific  gravity),  and  if,  after  watering 
slightly,  a  second  pressing  of  40°  to  45°  Ochsle  (1.040-1.045  specific 
gravity)  could  be  obtained,  the  two  runs  were  united  and  fermented 
together.  This  was  the  practice  in  small  factories. 

The  largest  German  factory  visited,  that  of  the  Freyeisen  Brothers, 
Frankfort,  is  possibly  the  largest  in  the  world.  Its  annual  output  is 


69 

about  25,000  hectoliters  (660,000  gallons).  Unfortunately  plans  of 
this  building  were  not  to  be  had,  and  it  was  too  extensive  for  the 
writer  to  attempt  making  drawings.  The  working  equipment  consists 
of  one  grinder,  a  large  number  of  mash  tubs  in  which  the  pulp  is 
macerated,  22  presses  (6  of  these  hydraulic),  teams,  tools,  etc.  A  force 
of  160  laborers  is  emplo}Ted.  In  this  factory,  and  also  in  most  of  the 
smaller  German  factories  visited,  the  fruit  is  washed  before  grinding, 
usually  in  the  manner  already  described,  namely,  by  dumping  it  into 
a  great  vat  of  water  and  elevating  it  from  this  to  the  grinder  by  a 
screw  rotating  in  a  half  cylinder. 

The  workmen  carry  the  apples  from  the  bins  in  wooden  vessels  resem- 
bling tubs,  holding  about  a  bushel,  and  dump  them  into  the  washing  vat. 
The  pulp  is  taken  in  like  vessels  as  it  falls  from  the  grinder  and  carried 
by  the  workmen  to  the  macerating  vats.  From  these,  after  maceration 
for  about  twenty-four  hours,  it  is  again  filled  into  .the  tubs  and  carried 
to  the  presses.  The  pressure  is  applied  slowly,  and  the  pulp  is  allowed 
to  drain  a  long  time.  Then  the  pomace  is  cut  up  fine,  put  into  another 
press,  and  re-pressed  without  addition  of  water.  The  third  and  last 
pressing  is  accomplished  at  250  atmospheres.  No  further  use  is  made 
of  the  pomace.  The  must  averages  about  1.050  specific  gravity. 

To  an  American  the  work  of  this  factory  seems  to  be  conducted  on 
an  exceedingly  laborious  plan.  The  impression  obtained  was  that  this 
old  firm,  which  had  been  in  business  about  a  century,  had  at  various 
times  grafted  on  new  ideas  and  appliances,  without  at  any  time  really 
reconstructing  and  modernizing  the  plant.  In  like  manner,  the  cel- 
lars appeared  to  have  been  added  to  until  they  honeycombed  the  earth, 
and  extended  vault  below  vault  to  a  depth  of  17i  meters  (56  feet)  below 
the  surface  of  the  factory  yard.  This  bewildering  maze  of  cellar 
vaults,  full  of  great  casks,  each  holding  2,000  liters  (528  gallons)  or 
more,  over  900  in  all,  served  to  store  the  product;  but  a  great  quan- 
tity of  cider  is  sold  while  still  in  first  fermentation  for  use  in  the  res- 
taurants of  Frankfort  as  sweet  or  smoking  cider. 

The  methods  of  handling  the  must  are  now  to  be  considered.  The 
pressing  of  the  pomace,  as  explained  above,  generally  occurs  on  the 
ground  floor  immediately  over  the  cellar.  To  this  first  cellar  the  fresh 
must  is  conducted  through  rubber  pipes,  either  by  gravity  or  by 
pumping,  and  is  put  directly  into  the  great  casks  in  the  fermentation 
room. 

It  is  the  German  custom  not  to  fill  the  casks  so  full  that  there  will  be 
any  discharge  of  froth  or  top  lees  through  the  bunghole,  6  or  8  inches 
of  clear  space  being  left  in  the  top  of  each  cask.  As  soon  as  a  cask 
in  the  fermentation  room  is  filled,  it  is  fitted  with  the  ventilating 
funnel  (fig.  16).  Nearly  all  good  cider  factories  are  provided  with 
cellars  at  least  two  stories  in  depth,  so  that  the  room  for  final  fermen- 
tation and  storage  is  immediately  below  the  first  cellar. 


70 

The  construction  and  arrangement  of  typical  German  cellars  are 
shown  in  figures  13  and  14.  The  most  ordinary  place  visited  had  one 
good  cellar,  and  places  of  the  next  higher  grade  uniformly  had  two- 
story  cellars.  The  great  factories  have  still  deeper  cellars,  as  that  of 
the  Freyeisen  Brothers  already  mentioned. 

The  chief  advantage  of  the  cellar  is  the  ease  with  which  temperature 
can  be  controlled.  For  instance,  in  the  upper  cellar,  by  introducing 
air  through  ventilating  flues  (fig.  13  h),  it  is  possible  to  raise  or  lower 
the  temperature  in  accordance  with  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  once  the  proper  temperature  is  reached  its  maintenance  is  fairly 


FIG.  13.— Vertical  cross  section  of  small  German  cider  factory  with  arched  cellars. 

easy.  However,  in  the  cold  season,  if  the  temperature  falls  too  low, 
resort  is  had  to  a  heating  apparatus.  The  temperature  which  the  Ger- 
mans seem  to  prefer  for  the  fermentation  room  (B,  figs.  13  and  14) 
is  15°  to  18°  C.  (59°  to  65°  F.),  the  lower  figure  being  preferred  if 
active  fermentation  starts  promptly  at  this  temperature.  In  the  lower 
cellar  ( (7,  fig.  14)  or  finishing  room  a  temperature  of  8°  to  10°  C.  (45°  to 
50°  F.)  is  preferred.  Still  lower  temperatures  are  obtained  in  late 
fall  and  winter. 

The  comparative  ease  with  which  the  cider  can  be  piped  from  one 
cellar  room  to  another  under  this  German  system  is  very  apparent. 


71 

The  liquor  must,  in  the  course  of  its  progress  to  a  finished  product, 
pass  from  a  warmer  to  a  colder  temperature,  and  this  is  here  accom- 
plished by  gravitation.  The  hoist  (fig  14,  <?)  at  last  lifts  the  finished 
product  from  the  lowest  room  to  the  ground  floor.  Natural!}'  the 
great  casks  are  never  disturbed  except  for  purposes  of  repair  or  reno- 
vation. The  finished  product  is  either  bottled  direct  in  the  storage 
room  or  transferred  to  smaller  casks  for  transportation.  Manholes 
are  provided  in  the  floors  of  each  room  to  permit  the  passage  of  the 
pipes,  etc.,  used  in  handling  the  product. 


FIG.  14.— Vertical  cross  section  of  two-story  German  cider  cellar. 

ENGLISH    FACTORIES. 

There  is  little  that  is  distinctive  about  English  cider  factories.  This 
does  not  imply  that  there  are  not  good  factories  in  England;  on  the 
contrary,  some  of  the  finest  products  observed  anywhere  were  those 
of  English  factories.  But  there  is  no  definitely  recognized  standard 
in  regard  to  either  apparatus  or  buildings  and  cellars  for  either  small 
or  large  factories  in  England.  The  best  factories  seen  were  copied 
from  those  of  the  French  champagne  makers  of  Epernay ;  but  as  to 
mechanical  devices  or  details  of  arrangement,  they  show  little  that  is 
new  or  of  peculiar  importance.  The  cellar  plays  but  a  small  part  with 


72 

the  average  English  cider  maker.  Some  important  details,  however, 
in  the  handling  of  must  and  in  fermentation  processes  were  observed. 

The  English  factories  grind  largely  with  graters  and  rasping  cylin- 
ders, though  the  German  "greif  "  machine  (figs.  6,  7, 8,  and  9)  is  com- 
ing into  use.  As  before  mentioned,  the  "tour  a  auge"  was  seen  in 
use  in  England. 

The  English  rarely  press  the  pomace  but  once,  and  almost  no 
maceration  of  the  pomace  with  water  was  observed.  The  quantity  of 
juice  extracted  from  the  fruit  varies,  according  to  the  statements  made, 
from  60  to  90  per  cent  of  the  weight  of  fruit,  but  the  latter  figure  is 
so  high  as  to  inspire  grave  doubt  as  to  its  correctness.  The  presses 
used  are  mostly  old-style  hand  and  power  screw  presses.  Not  a 
hydraulic  press  was  seen  in  use  in  the  island.  The  system  of  handling 
the  fruit  at  the  large  factories  seems  particularly  objectionable.  It 
was  in  most  cases  lying  in  great  heaps  in  the  yards  or  lots  adjacent 
to  the  mill,  and  in  many  cases  a  considerable  percentage  of  it  wras  far 
gone  with  decay. 

On  a  tenant  farmer's  place  in  Herefordshire  was  seen  one  of  the 
largest  plants  visited  in  England,  and  a  few  words  of  description 
will  give  an  idea  of  its  management.  The  fruit  lies  in  immense  piles 
in  the  orchard  on  a  rise  of  ground  which  extends  up  to  the  factory 
sheds.  When  needed,  the  fruit  is  shoveled  into  a  long  inclined  chute 
that  carries  it  to  the  grinders  below,  which  are  of  the  stone-crusher 
type.  The  pulp  falls  into  a  great  vat,  whence  it  is  shoveled  onto  the 
presses.  Two  sprocket-geared  power  presses  are  used,  and  the  cheeses 
are  laid  up  in  cloths  as  with  us.  In  this  factory  the  pomace  is  soaked 
and  re-pressed. 

The  must  is  pumped  by  power  apparatus  to  an  adjacent  shed,  where 
it  is  received  in  great  slate  vats  and  wooden  tanks,  and  in  these  it  is 
carried  through  the  first  fermentation.  From  there  the  cider  is  pumped 
to  a  more  permanent  building  for  ripening  and  storage.  The  storage 
tanks  range  in  capacity  from  100  to  4,500  gallons  each.  Fermenta- 
tion is  controlled  by  filtering  and  racking,  as  is  usual  in  England,  and 
a  pasteurizer  also  is  in  use,  but  no  opportunity  offered  to  observe  the 
effects  of  its  use. 

When  desired  for  market  the  cider  is  blended  in  large  vats  to  suit  the 
demands  of  the  trade  and  then  pumped  through  the  Invicta  filter  into 
casks  for  shipment.  Thousands  of  gallons  of  supposedly  finished  cider 
were  to  be  seen  stored  in  50-gallon  casks  in  the  open,  merely  covered 
over  with  boughs  and  straw,  and  it  was  said  to  keep  well  under  this 
treatment. 

The  power  used  in  operating  this  plant  is  a  traction  engine  of  about 
15  horsepower,  such  as  is  in  general  use  on  English  farms  for  thrash- 
ing and  doing  various  kinds  of  heavy  work.  The  whole  plant  was 
very  badly  placed  as  to  detail  of  structures  and  conditions  for  han- 


73 

dling  the  product  properly.  Practical  duplicates  of  this  factory  were 
observed  elsewhere,  and  very  fair  cider  was  made  on  a  large  scale,  but 
no  really  fine  products  from  such  plants  were  observed. 

The  best  large  factory  visited  was  at  Hereford  City,  but  here  admit- 
tance to  the  operating  rooms  and  cellars  was  refused,  though  an 
extended  interview  on  the  methods  was  given.  These  operators  are 
patterning  wholly  after  the  French  champagne  makers.  They  have 
extensive  cellars  in  which  their  product  is  finished  at  a  temperature 
of  47°  to  50°  F.  They  explained  their  system  of  blending  the  must 
before  fermentation,  which,  by  the  way,  is  one  of  the  most  important 
operations  in  determining  the  grade  of  product  produced. 

On  the  estate  of  Lord  Sudle\r,  in  Worcestershire,  some  very  inter- 
esting and  decidedly  successful  amateur  work  in  cider  making  was 
observed.  Here  the  manager  of  the  estate,  Mr.  Charles  D.  Wise,  has 
for  several  years  been  studying  and  experimenting  on  the  manufacture 
of  fine  bottled  cider  and  perry,  and  he  has  succeeded  remarkably  well 
in  some  particulars.  He  has  installed  a  small  plant  in  a  great  circular 
brick  structure,  formerly  used  as  a  riding  school.  Here  he  grinds  the 
fruit  on  a  grater  machine,  using  a  portable  farm  engine.  The  pulp  is 
pressed  by  a  hand-power  screw  press,  and  the  must  is  carried  through 
the  first  fermentation  in  great  tubs  or  vats.  As  soon  as  the  lees  are 
well  separated,  the  cider  is  racked  off  and  then  filtered  by  gravity 
through  wood  pulp.  This  is  accomplished  by  the  use  of  a  great  tub 
elevated  about  10  feet  above  the  floor.  In  it  is  fitted  a  false  perfo- 
rated bottom,  a  few  inches  above  the  real  bottom,  and  between  these  is 
placed  the  filtering  medium.  The  tub  is  filled  with  cider,  and  the 
clarified  product  is  received  below  and  placed  in  large  casks  about  the 
course  of  the  riding  school  to  mature. 

The  cider  is  permitted  to  remain  in  these  casks  from  one  year  to 
eighteen  months  before  bottling.  Apparently  very  little  technique  is 
employed,  but  some  of  the  product  is  excellent.  How  much  failed  to 
turn  out  well  was  not  ascertained. 

The  experiments  on  cider  making  in  England,  conducted  conjointly 
by  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and  the  Bath  and  West  Agricultural 
Society,  are  carried  on  at  Butleigh  Court,  the  country  seat  of  K.  Neville 
Grenville,  esq.,  in  Somersetshire,  near  Glastonbury  (PI.  VII).  Mr. 
Grenville  is  personally  interested  in  this  work,  and  has  devoted  con- 
siderable'  time  and  money  to  it,  and  Mr.  F.  J.  Lloyd,  of  London,  a 
consulting  chemist,  has  supervised  for  the  authorities  the  more  techni- 
cal aspects  of  the  work.  The  reports  on  this  work  can  be  found  in 
full  in  the  annual  volumes  of  the  Bath  and  West  of  England  Society. 

The  cider  house  at  this  place  is  equipped  in  part  on  French  models. 
The  fruit  is  stored  in  a  loft,  and  is  ground  on  a  machine  at  the  level  of 
the  upper  floor,  whence  the  pulp  falls  to  the  press  below.  The  grinder 
is  of  the  German  pattern  with  stone  rollers.  The  pulp  is  pressed  on  a 


74 

hand-power  screw  press  at  about  40  tons  pressure.  The  cheese  is  laid 
up  in  cloths  and  well  pressed,  but  only  once,  the  pomace  being  then 
used  to  feed  the  cattle  on  the  place. 

The  must  is  pumped  back  into  the  upper  story  and  placed  in  open 
tanks  (here  called  "keeves")  of  about  60  to  75  gallons  capacity.  In 
these  the  must  is  carefully  watched,  and  the  top  lees  are  skimmed  off 
until  the  cider  reaches  a  state  of  limpidity  which  warrants  racking  off. 
At  this  stage  the  liquor  is  drawn  off  in  pipes  to  the  lower  room  and 
either  placed  directly  in  casks  for  maturing  or  run  through  the  Invicta 
filter,  according  to  circumstances;  that  is,  if  the  cider  can  be  drawn 
clear,  it  is  best  run  directly  into  casks,  but,  if  ''troubled,"  it  is  filtered 
and  then  run  into  casks.  The  storage  casks  range  in  size  from  100  to 
250  gallons. 

In  this  small  factory  all  the  critical  data  which  should  govern  the 
technique  were  observed,  as,  for  instance,  the  chemical  composition 
of  the  fruit  and  the  specific  gravity  of  must  at  grinding  and  at  each 
stage  of  fermentation.  A  most  elaborate  cellar  record  is  kept  of  the 
casks  in  the  storage  rooms  and  regarding  the  results  of  bottling  at 
various  times.  It  is  too  soon  to  speak  positively  of  the  lessons  to  be 
learned  from  these  examinations  and  observations,  but  it  is  certainly 
by  such  observations  and  studies  that  the  knowledge  of  the  subject  is 
to  be  advanced. 

The  product  sampled  at  Butleigh  Court  was  of  fine  quality  but,  as 
elsewhere,  there  were  ' '  misses  "  in  some  cases.  Accommodations  for 
accurate  cellar  work  are  needed. 

PRODUCTION  OF  THE  MUST. 

The  appliances  used  in  reducing  the  apples  to  pulp  and  expressing 
the  juice  therefrom  have  already  been  described.  Yet  several  impor- 
tant points  in  relation  to  the  production  of  the  must  remain  to  be 
discussed. 

RIPENESS   OF   THE   FRUIT. 

The  ripeness  of  the  fruit,  or  its  condition  in  relation  to  those  obscure 
processes  which  go  on  after  maturity  in  the  pome  fruits  and  bring 
them  into  their  most  favorable  condition  as  to  quantity  of  sugar  and ' 
quality  of  juice,  is  a  very  important  consideration  in  this  connection. 
It  was  especially  noted  in  the  French  factories  that  they  did  not  grind 
the  fruit  until  it  was  in  perfect  condition  as  to  ripeness,  but  com-\ 
paratively  little  attention  was  paid  to  this  matter  in  the  German  and 
English  factories  visited. 

The  important  fact  that  the  sugars  in  fruits  increase  to  a  maximum 
point,  which  is  doubtless  reached  at  or  near  the  stage  of  perfect  ripe- 
ness, ought  not  to  be  lost  sight  of  either  in  cider  or  vinegar  work. 
There  are,  however,  very  few  valuable  data  concerning  the  composition 


Bui.  71,  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 


PLATE  VII. 


FIG.  1 .— BUTLEIGH  COURT,  SOMERSETSHIRE,  ENGLAND,  SEAT  OF 
ENGLISH  CIDER  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 


FIG.  2.— THE  CIDER-APPLE  ORCHARD  AT  BUTLEIGH  COURT. 


75 

of  apples  during  the  process  of  ripening.     This  is  an  important  field 
for  critical  study  which  ought  to  give  results  of  decided  economic  value. 

MIXING  .VARIETIES   OF   APPLES. 

Under  the  comparison  of  the  composition  of  fruits,  the  great  vari- 
ability of  different  kinds  of  apples  has  been  shown.  But  there  are 
other  characteristics  of  apples  which  can  not  be  expressed  in  terms  of 
chemical  data,  such  as  their  taste  and  aroma,  and  these  factors  have  to 
do  with  making  a  good  cider  in  only  a  lesser  degree  than  sugars,  acids, 
and  tannin.  The  blending  of  fruits  at  grinding  appears  to  be  an  almost 
universal  practice  in  France.  Every  maker  appears  to  exercise  his  own 
judgment  about  the  proportions  of  the  several  varieties  to  be  used, 
sampling  the  fruits  by  taste  and  smell.  There  are,  for  instance,  manj" 
French  varieties  which  have  a  very  high  content  of  tannin.  These  are 
not  used  separately  in  cider  making,  but  are  mixed  with  sweet  and 
acid  fruits  to  secure  a  proper  average  composition.  The  question  of 
blending  or  not  resolves  itself  finally  to  this:  Can  we  hope  to  secure 
by  selection  a  perfectly  proportioned  fruit  as  to  its  chemical  compo- 
sition and  other  qualities,  or  not?  This  desideratum  is  certainly  far 
from  being  realized  at  present. 

In  German}^  very  little  special  attention  is  paid  to  the  subject  of 
blending  except  in  the  use  of  Sorbus  domestica,  as  already  noted.  In 
this  they  have  a  fruit  of  the  greatest  importance,  a  fact  which  did  not 
appear  to  be  fully  realized.  The  ordinaiy  German  varieties  of  apples 
present  few  characteristics  to  lead  one  to  a  study  of  blending. 

In  England  the  best  makers  talk  about  blending,  but  handle  their 
really  good  varieties  in  such  a  bad  manner,  in  many  cases,  as  to  leave 
little  chance  of  realizing  the  best  results.  At  one  of  the  best  English 
factories  visited  the  manager  explained  that  he  ground  the  varieties 
separately,  expressed  the  must,  tested  it  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and 
blended  as  it  was  run  into  the  fermentation  casks.  This  is  certainly 
the  most  scientific  method  of  blending. 

Some  French  writers  recommend  for  the  best  standard  ciders  to  use 
one-third  sweet  fruit  to  two-thirds  bitter  fruit,  and  for  household  use 
two-thirds  sweet  and  one-third  bitter  fruit;  but  such  attempts  at  exact 
proportions  are  worthless.  The  whole  question  must  be  determined 
on  the  spot  for  the  particular  fruits  in  hand.  However  important 
this  question  may  be  in  relation  to  standard  products,  no  really  impor- 
tant data  regarding  it  were  obtained. 

Unfortunately  in  the  United  States  we  have  so  few  distinctively 
cider  fruits  in  cultivation  and  so  few  technical  data  in  regard  to  our 
common  varieties  that  advice  on  this  point  must  await  further  investi- 
gation. Meanwhile,  good  judgment  applied  along  the  lines  here  indi- 
cated will  be  a  better  guide  than  figures  as  to  proportions  of  this  or 
that  variety. 


76 

WASHING   THE    FRUIT. 

In  many  places  in  Germany  and  some  places  in  France  washing  the 
fruit  before  grinding  was  found  to  be  largely  practiced.  Where  the 
fruit  is  actually  soiled  this  operation  is  greatly  to  be  commended,  but 
it  was  practiced  in  many  places  regardless  of  this  point.  To  run  all 
fruit  through  a  washing  vat  simply  as  a  part  of  a  system  seems  to  be 
unwarranted  on  several  grounds:  (1)  It  is  useless  in  case  of  fruits  that 
have  been  harvested  in  a  proper  condition;  (2)  if  elevated  directly 
from  the  washing  vat  to  the  grinder  the  fruit  carries  with  it  consider- 
able water,  which  reduces  the  specific  gravity  or  richness  of  the  must, 
and  (3)  there  is  every  probability  that  washing  reduces  considerably 
the  yeasts  present  on  the  fruits.  This  under  some  conditions  is  of 
critical  importance,  and  needs  to  be  considered  in  relation  to  the  practice 
of  sowing  the  must  with  active  yeast  cultures. 

There  are  heard  in  discussion  and  found  in  the  literature  of  the  subject 
statements  about  drying  the  fruits  after  washing,  but  this  does  not 
seem  to  be  practiced,  nor  was  a  mill  seen  constructed  with  any  idea  of 
permitting  the  fruits  to  dry  before  crushing.  If  the  water  is  not  fre- 
quently changed  in  the  tank  it  will  soil  rather  than  clean  the  apples. 
Fruit  carrying  impurities  should  never  be  stored  or  ground  with  clean 
fruit  even  after  it  has  been  washed,  as  to  do  so  is  simply  to  furnish  to 
the  must  the  organisms  of  mal-fermentation  and  other  substances,  which 
will  most  likely  prove  harmful.  The  international  cider  congress  held 
at  Paris  in  October,  1900,  expressed  by  vote  the  opinion  that  washing 
fruits  before  grinding  ought  only  to  be  practiced  where  cleanliness 
made  it  necessarj'. 

GRINDING  'OR   CRUSHING    THE    FRUIT. 

The  end  in  view  in  reducing  the  fruit  to  pulp  is  to  make  it  possible 
to  extract  the  juice  by  pressure.  Some  fruits  can  be  more  or  less  per- 
f  ectty  pressed  without  grinding,  but  this  is  not  possible  with  the  apple. 
The  cells  of  the  apple  hold  their  juices  quite  tenaciously,  and  must 
be  definitely  ruptured.  Hence  the  method  which  will  most  perfectly 
rupture  the  constituent  cells  is  probably  the  best  to  employ.  As  pre- 
viously stated,  perhaps  the  German  "greif"  mill  accomplishes  this 
purpose  better  than  those  of  any  other  type.  This  view  was  advanced 
by  German  and  English  cider  makers,  and  indorsed  to  some  extent  by 
the  French. 

It  was  everywhere  stated  by  the  best  makers  that  the  seeds  must 
neither  be  cut  nor  crushed  to  any  extent,  because  their  oil}-  and  nitrog- 
enous constituents  directly  injure  the  ciders  by  contributing  flavoring 
matter  of  an  unpleasant  nature  and  nitrogenous  substance  in  which  the 
organisms  causing  putrescence  find  a  desirable  medium  for  develop- 
ment. This  opinion  was  universally  accepted  in  all  the  factories  vis- 
ited, although  this  view  is  contrary  to  that  of  the  early  English  and 


77 

American  writers.  The  chemical  analyses  of  seeds  of  pome  fruits 
indicate  that  the  opinion  is  based  on  good  grounds.  The  delicate 
fruit  aroma  yields  the  bouquet  desired  in  the  cider.  The  oily  principle 
in  the  seeds  tends  to  destroy  this,  and  certain  ly  nitrogenous  matter 
is  not  desirable  to  any  extent  in  must  which  is  to  be  fermented  into 
a  beverage.  There  is  ordinarily  plenty  of  nitrogenous  matter  in  apple 
must  to  support  yeast  growth.  However,  slightly  contradictory  as  it 
may  seem,  the  French  makers  aim  to  crush  the  seeds  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  ^boisson.'"1  claiming  that,  as  the  pomace  is  largely  deprived  of 
its  aromatic  constituents  when  the  pure  juice  is  extracted,  the  oil  in 
the  seeds  adds  to  the  quality  of  this  low-grade  cider. 

The  fineness  of  grinding  afi'ects  to  some  extent  the  facility7  with 
which  the  juice  can  be  expressed.  If  the  pulp  is  too  mushy,  it  presses 
badly,  especially  when  the  cheese  is  made  up  in  cloths.  In  this  matter 
there  is  a  proper  mean,  which  no  one  seems  to  be  able  to  define  in  an 
entirely  satisfactory  manner.  It  is  often  expressed  in  this  form,  that 
not  over  2  per  cent  of  the  seeds  should  be  cut  or  crushed  in  reducing 
the  fruit  to  pulp  for  first  pressing. 

For  preparing  must  by  the  diffusion  process,  mentioned  elsewhere 
in  this  report,  the  fruit  is  not  ground  or  crushed  as  for  pressing,  but 
it  is  cut  or  shavsd  into  thin  slices,  as  it  is  found  that  with  these 
extraction  by  diffusion  goes  on  more  perfectty  than  with  pulped  fruit. 

MACERATION    OF   PULP. 

The  Germans  are  strong  advocates  of  maceration,  i.  e.,  allowing  the 
fruit  to  stand  in  its  own  juice,  because  by  this  process  they  believe  the 
sugar  is  more  perfectly  extracted.  They  claim  that  the  juice  acts  upon 
the  unbroken  cells  and  assists  in  liberating  their  liquid  contents.  This 
would  certainly  be  true  if  fermentation  were  fairly  begun  before 
pressing.  The  writer's  experience  is  against  permitting  the  pulp  to 
ferment  before  pressing,  but  these  questions  need  to  be  approached 
from  the  standpoint  of  scientifically  conducted  experiments  before 
much  can  be  said  that  is  definite. 

MM.  Seguin  and  Pailheret,  at  the  National  Agricultural  College, 
Rennes,  France,  have  made  a  number  of  experiments  in  a  small  way 
upon  this  question  and  they  have  found  in  every  instance  that  macera- 
tion increases  the  totals  of  sugar,  acids,  mucilage,  and  ash  in  the  must, 
but  decreases  the  tannin,  and  leaves,  finally,  an  almost  colorless  must. 
This  latter  point  is  contrary  to  the  German  opinion.  The  French  do 
not  generally  practice  maceration  of  the  pulp  before  pressing.  In  the 
writer's  opinion  maceration  for  more  than  eight  or  ten  hours  is  liable 
to  stock  the  whole  mass  of  pulp  with  many  undesirable  organisms  and 
render  control  of  the  fermentation  far  more  difficult  than  it  would 
otherwise  be  unless  the  pulp  is  sown  at  once  on  grinding  with  pure 
cultures  of  veast. 


EXPRESSING   THE    MUST. 

The  older  methods  of  laying  up  the  pulp  preparatory  to  pressing 
possess  no  particular  merits  to  call  for  further  remarks  than  those 
already  made. 

The  modern,  double-acting,  ratchet  screw  presses,  so  much  used  by 
the  French,  and  the  hydraulic  press,  or  some  better  form  of  machine, 
must  be  the  presses  of  the  future.  Hand  hydraulic  presses  are  in  use 
in  France,  and  in  all  the  medium-sized  and  large  factories  these  mod- 
ern machines  must  make  headway  against  the  obsolete  and  laborious 
hand  presses  of  the  old  style. 

When  the  fruit  is  carefully  pulped  in  the  most  correct  manner,  and 
subjected  to  from  80  to  100  tons  direct  pressure  for  a  sufficient 
length  of  time,  the  possibility  of  again  manipulating  this  pomace  so 
as  to  derive  sufficient  must  to  warrant  the  effort  is  indeed  slight. 
This  is  especially  true  when  the  pulp  is  well  laid  in  thin  lozenges  in 
the  coarsely  woven  seine-twine  cloths  used  in  the  best  American  mills. 
Hair  cloths  and  various  devices  are  used  abroad,  but  none  of  these 
compared  well  with  our  best  American  cheese  cloths. 

SOAKING   THE   POMACE. 

One  must  distinguish  clearly  between  the  after  maceration  of  the 
pomace  and  the  maceration  of  the  pulp  in  its  own  juice.  The  later 
operation  is  better  named  "soaking."  If  there  is  any  method  by 
which  the  pomace  can  ever  be  handled  with  a  view  to  more  perfectly 
exhausting  it  than  is  accomplished  by  direct  pressing,  it  would  seem 
that  soaking  in  warm  water  is  by  far  the  most  promising  one. 

If  American  fruits  were  as  rich  in  saccharine  properties  as  the 
French  appear  to  be,  it  is  possible  that  a  considerable  quantity  of  the 
juice  of  second  pressing  or  of  the  must  extracted  by  diffusion  could 
be  mixed  with  the  rich  juice  of  first  pressings  and  still  produce  a  must 
sufficiently  rich  for  good  cider  or  vinegar.  The  imperfect  methods 
of  expressing  the  juice  employed  in  many  places  abroad  give  to  this 
question  more  importance  than  it  has  with  us;  but  the  question  of  its 
utility  or  nonutility  in  large  factories  is  yet  to  be  settled  after  more 
technical  investigation. 

FERMENTATION  OF  CIDER. 

In  the  minds  of  some,  fermentation  is  a  very  simple  operation.  Mr. 
A.  Hauchecorne  says  in  his  elementary  treatise  on  cider :°  "  The  art  of 
making  good  cider  is  very  simple,  and  includes  the  following  four 
conditions:  Ripe  fruits,  clean  water,  a  barrel  free  from  taints  and 
odors,  and  later  racking  off."  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  G.  Power6  says: 
"Of  all  the  operations  necessary  in  the  manufacture  of  cider,  the  fer- 

«Le  Cidre,  p.  7. 

&  Culture  du  Pommier  et  Fabrication  du  Cidre,  1:  102. 


79 

mentation  is  certainly  the  most  difficult  and  the  most  important.  This 
is  true  of  all  beverages,  but  with  cider  one  encounters  difficulties  of  a 
special  nature."  Dr.  A.  Cluss,"  writing-  of  North  Germany,  says: 

We  shall  now  speak  of  fermentation  and  the  management  of  the  cellar,  those  fac- 
tors which  have  the  greatest  influence  upon  the  resultant  product,  and  *  *  *  in 
which  the  greatest  faults  have  been  committed.  One  can  say  without  exaggeration 
that  the  misfortunes  in  making  cider,  about  which  so  many  moan,  are  due  not  to 
the  poor  raw  material  nor  to  faults  in  the  pressing,  but  almost  without  exception  to 
ignorance  of  the  foundation  principles  of  fermentation,  and  especially  to  the  bad 
condition  of  the  cellars  and  cellar  utensils  which  universally  prevails. 

The  above  quotations  illustrate  the  extremes  of  opinion  on  this  sub- 
ject. Everyone  in  the  United  States  who  has  tried  to  make  fine 
sound  cider  will,  I  think,  agree  heartily  with  Power  and  indorse  with- 
out exception  the  views  of  Dr.  Cluss. 

ROOM,  VESSELS,  AND   APPLIANCES  USED. 

The  first  object  to  be  kept  in  view  in  the  construction  of  a  fermen- 
tation room  is  the  control  of  temperature  conditions;  the  second,  con- 
venience of  location  to  the  general  operating  room  and  to  the  final 
storage  room ;  and  the  third,  facilities  for  maintaining  perfect  cleanli- 
ness and  ventilation. 

As  types  of  factories  meeting  these  requirements  to  a  considerable 
extent,  the  factory  at  St.  Ouen-de-Thouberville,  France,  and  the  Ger- 
man factories  having  single  and  double  cellars  may  be  cited. 

On  beginning  the  season's  work  the  fermentation  room  .should  be 
put  in  perfect  order  as  to  cleanliness,  the  walls  and  floors  being  newly 
whitewashed.  The  casks  or  vats  should  be  put  in  the  most  perfect 
order,  cleansed  carefully  inside  and  out,  and  arranged  with  reference 
to  the  convenience  of  filling,  racking  off,  and  other  operations. 


TEMPERATURE  OP  FERMENTATION  ROOM. 


On  this  point  the  Germans  are  much  more  careful  than  the  French 
or  English.  The  French  structures  are  largely  exposed  to  the  influ- 
ence of  daily  fluctuations  in  atmospheric  conditions,  and  whenever 
there  is  a  considerable  daily  variation  in  the  temperature  it  is  quite 
impossible  to  carry  on  an  even,  well-ordered  fermentation. 

The  alcoholic  ferments  (commonly  called  yeasts),  like  all  other  plant 
organisms,  have  an  optimum  temperature  for  growth,  and  it  has  been 
determined  that  this  temperature  is  about  18°  to  24°  C.  (65°  to  75°  F.). 
But  it  is  also  true  that,  at  this  temperature,  the  growth  of  the  yeast 
plants  is  apt  to  be  very  rapid,  producing  a  rather  too  violent  fermen- 
tation which  disturbs  the  orderly  management  of  the  must.  At  a 
lower  temperature  fermentation  can  be  carried  on  in  a  more  orderly 
way,  if  once  well  started,  hence,  13°  to  18°  C.  (55°  to  65°  F.)  has  been 

a  Apfelweinbereitung,  p.  61  et  seq. 


80 

found  a  more  desirable  temperature  for  the  main  fermentation  room. 
At  a  temperature  reduced  much  below  the  minimum  given  the  must 
will  not  start  a  proper  fermentation,  and  when  it  is  introduced  into  the 
casks — especially  if  they  are  large  ones — at  a  lower  temperature, 
some  difficulty  will  he  experienced  unless  the  must  is  artificially 
warmed.  This  can  be  accomplished  b^y  warming  a  portion  and  pour- 
ing this  into  the  casks,  but  this  portion  of  the  must  should  never  be 
heated  to  a  temperature  above  50°  or  60°  C.  (120°  to  1-10°  F.). 


VESSELS    USED    IX    FERMENTATION. 


Many  styles  of  casks  or  vats  for  the  first  fermentation  are  in  use. 
In  England  open  vats  were  frequently  seen.  These  were  of  wood  and 
slate,  and  held  from  60  to  several  hundred  gallons.  They  were  placed 
in  the  workrooms,  or  in  rooms  adjacent  thereto,  or  out  of  doors  under 
a  shed  roof.  Many  English  makers,  however,  carry  on  the  first  fer- 
mentation in  casks  both  small  and  large.  Some  use  inferior  50  to  60 
gallon  casks  lying  in  a  shed,  or  in  the  open,  but  the  best  makers  use 
larger  casks  or  vats  holding  100  to  500  gallons,  and  even  larger  ones 
for  the  tumultuous  fermentation.  Those  who  use  the  open  vats  quite 
generally  allude  to  this  part  of  the  process  as  "keeving"  the  cider, 
plainly  a  corruption  of  the  French  word  "cuvage." 

French  makers  veiy  largely  ferment  first  in  immense  casks  holding 
from  500  to  1,200  gallons,  but  they  also  occasionally  use  great  wooden 
and  slate  vats  open  at  the  top. 

In  Germany  only  large  casks  are  used,  holding  500  to  2,000  liters 
(132  to  528  gallons).  In  fact,  the  German  system  of  fermentation 
admits  of  nothing  else  but  casks.  These  are  uniformly  closed  to 
guard  against  the  entrance  of  germ-laden  air.  Much  has  been  -said 
in  the  literature  of  the  subject  concerning  the  various  kinds  and  sizes 
of  vessels  used  for  fermenting  the  cider.  The  size  of  the  vessels  is  of 
the  very  greatest  importance.  Every  maker  whose  work  is  worthy 
of  commendation  was  observed  to  be  using  large  vessels  for  ferment- 
ing the  must.  About  500  liters  (132  gallons)  was  the  smallest  size 
recommended,  and  above  this  they  ran  to  6,000  liters  (1,585  gallons). 

There  are  several  reasons  which  have  more  or  less  weight  in  empha- 
sizing the  necessity  of  having  large  vessels.  One  of  the  first  is  that  a 
large  quantity  of  must  brought  into  a  cask  at  proper  temperature  is 
much  less  subject  to  atmospheric  changes  and,  hence,  a  safe,  even  fer- 
mentation can  be  carried  on  with  greater  certainty.  There  is  also  a 
very  persistently  repeated  statement  that  the  fermentation  of  the  must 
in  these  large  casks  produces  a  marked  effect  upon  quality.  It  can  be 
readily  understood  that  the  use  of  these  very  large  vessels  will  pro- 
duce a  considerable  quantitjr  of  finished  product  of  like  character 
which  can  not  be  so  well  accomplished  in  small  vessels.  There  will 
also  be  less  dregs  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  must  if  one  employs 


81 

large  vessels  instead  of  small  ones.     The  control  of  a  large   cask 
requires  no  more  attention,  and  often  not  so  much  as  a  small  one. 


FILLING    THE    VESSELS. 


A  convenient  method  of  filling  the  vessels  plays  a  very  important 
part  in  handling  the  must.  In  many  places  this  is  accomplished  by 
power  pumps,  which  deliver  the  must  to  the  receptacles  placed  in 
adjacent  rooms  or  in  another  building.  When  the  press  room  is  over 
the  fermentation  room,  filling  is  accomplished  by  gravity.  Hose  pipes 
are  largety  used  for  this  work,  but  brass  or  copper  must  be  used  for 
all  metal  fittings.  The  less  the  must  comes  in  contact  with  the  air 
after  it  leaves  the  press  the  less  liable  it  is  to  be  contaminated  with 
various  undesirable  organisms.  The  pumps  and  pipes  used  must  be 
kept  scrupulously  clean. 

The  height  to  which  the  cask  is  filled  with  must  bears  upon  the 
method  of  fermentation  to  be  employed.  In  England  the  old  practice 
of  running  the  barrels  or  casks  full  so  that  they  would  "work  them- 
selves clean  "  is  still  in  use  to  some  extent,  as  it  is  in  this  country,  but 
all  progressive  makers  in  England  and  elsewhere  have  abandoned  this 
practice.  Whatever  modern  system  one  'may  follow,  the  vessel  is 
never  filled  so  full  that  it  will  run  over  during  the  tumultuous  fermen- 
tation. In  the  use  of  open  vats  the  English  almost  invariably  fill  within 
several  inches  or  a  foot  of  the  top  and  skim  the  lees  which  rise  one  or 
more  times,  thus  exposing  the  must  to  the  air  and  also  causing  the  lees 
to  be  mixed  more  or  less  through  the  liquid.  In  England  no  attempt 
was  made,  so  far  as  observed  by  the  writer,  to  control  the  exit  of  gas 
or  entrance  of  air  further  than  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  insects  by 
some  sort  of  temporary  covering. 

The  French  ferment  almost  universally  in  large  casks  or  closed 
upright  tanks,  and  it  is  rare  indeed  one  sees  an  open  vat.  But  when 
such  vats  are  used,  they  permit  the  top  lees  to  rest  unbroken,  forming 
a  "head,"  the  so-called  "chapeau,"  over  the  liquor.  In  casks  they 
usually  leave  a  space  of  8  inches  to  1  foot  below  the  bung  unfilled. 
This  permits  the  head  to  form  without  any  overflow  of  lees. 

In  Germany  they  invariably  leave  a  space  of  from  8  to  12  inches  below 
the  bung  unfilled,  but  with  an  entirely  different  end  in  view  from  that 
of  the  Frenchman.  The  latter  makes  much  of  the  proper  appearance 
of  the  "chapeau,"  or  top  lees,  and  it  is  an  article  of  his  faith  that  this 
cover  shall  not  be  broken  or  permitted  to  fall  back  into  the  liquor. 
But  the  Germans,  on  the  contrary,  purposely  preserve  these  lees  from 
overflow  and  desire  them  to  fall  back  through  the  liquor  and  rest  at 
the  bottom  of  the  cask.  They  argue  that  this  secures  inclusive  fer- 
mentation, and  utilizes  all  alcoholic  material  in  the  top  lees  which 
would  be  lost  by  skimming  or  by  drawing  the  liquor  away  from  the 
lees. 

17247— No.  71—03 6 


82 


CONTROLLING    THE    EXIT    AND    ENTRANCE    OF   GASES. 

When  fermentation  occurs  in  the  open  vats,  or  "keeves,"  natu- 
rally one  can  not  control  the  contact  of  air  with  the  surface  of  the  must. 
But  the  French,  by  permitting  the  top  lees  to  rest,  in  a  large  measure 
guard  the  liquor  from  contact  with  the  air.  The  reasons  for  thus 
guarding  the  must  do  not  appear  to  be  recognized  by  English  makers, 
but  are  quite  generally  considered  in  France,  and  very  strictly  so  in 
Germany.  If  the  must  is  fermented  in  closed  vessels,  it  is  a  very 
simple  matter  to  guard  the  entrance  from  germ-laden  air  by  the  use 
of  simple  devices  such  as  are  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations. 

In  figure  15  is  shown  a  device  which  was  found  in  use  to  some  extent 


FIG.  15.— Noel  device  for  ventilating  fermentation  casks. 

in  France,  the  character  of  which  will  be  quite  readily  understood  from 
the  illustration.  The  metal  base  (a)  screws  into  the  cask  and  carries 
two  connected  glass  chambers  (b  and  <?).  The  metal  cap  (d )  unscrews 
to  allow  the  entrance  of  liquid  to  the  control  chamber  (c).  When  the 
cask  is  filled  to  the  proper  height,  the  bunghole  is  securely  closed,  and 
this  device  is  either  screwed  into  a  small  central  opening  in  the  bung 
or  into  a  hole  in  the  cask  near  the  bung.  The  liquid  desired  for  puri- 
fying the  air — either  30  per  cent  alcohol  or  10  per  cent  sulphuric  acid — 
is  poured  into  the  chamber  (c)  until  both  glass  chambers  are  about 
half  full;  then  the  apparatus  is  ready  for  operation.  Should  the  pres- 
sure decrease  in  the  cask  by  reason  of  falling  temperature  air  can  only 
enter  by  passing  through  this  apparatus  in  a  course  contrary  to  the 


83 

arrows,  and  hence  will  be  washed  clear  of  germs.  On  the  increase  of 
pressure  through  fermentation  activity  the  gas  passes  out  at  low  pres- 
sure by  depressing  the  liquor  in  (5)  until  it  gains  exit,  as  indicated  by 
the  arrows.  This  is(the  Noel  air  controller;  but  in  the  writer's  work  it 
has  proved  entirely  too  complicated  and  too  difficult  to  keep  clean  for 
practical  use.  The  principle  of  air  control  is  undoubtedly  correct, 
but  it  is  better  accomplished  by  some  of  the  following  devices: 

The  German  "fermentation  funnel"  (fig.  16)  is  a  simple  and  far 
better  device  for  controlling  the  air.  This  is  a  pottery  or  porcelain 
device  having  a  central  tapering  stem  (a)  with  a  basin-like  vessel  (5) 


FIG.  16.— German  earthenware  ventilating  funnel— vertical  section. 

around  its  upper  end.  The  central  stem  (c)  rises  nearly  to  the  height 
of  the  outer  rim,  and  is  hollow.  Over  this  hollow  stem  rests  a  remova- 
ble cap  (d),  which  extends  to  the  bottom  of  the  basin.  The  lower  rim 
of  this  cap  where  it  rests  under  the  liquid  is  notched  for  the  passage 
of  gases,  as  indicated  by  the  arrows.  This  device  is  inserted  in  the 
bunghole  of  the  cask,  and  by  reason  of  the  tapering  stem  can  be  made 
to  fit  quite  tightly;  but  it  is  always  better  to  use  some  paraffin  wax 
around  it.  The  control  liquid  is  placed  in  the  outer  basin  until  it  is 
about  one-third  full;  then  the  cap  is  put  on  and  the  device  is  ready  for 
operation.  While  this  is  an  awkward  looking  device,  it  is  the  best 


84 


known  to  the  writer  for  practical  work.  The  large  central  opening 
permits  the  operator  to  take  the  temperature  of  the  must,  or  remove 
samples  for  examination  at  pleasure  without  displacing  the  entire 
apparatus,  and  it  can  be  quickly  and  perfectly  cleaned. 

A  third  device  (fig.  17),  also  of  German  origin,  answers  a  good  pur- 
pose, especially  in  laboratory  work,  but  it  is  not  recommended  for 
cellar  work.  This  is  called  the  glycerin  control  tube.  It  is  made  of 
glass,  and  is  operated  by  inserting  the  stem  through  a  bung  (<?).  Gly- 
cerin or  one  of  the  liquids  mentioned  above  is  introduced  at  the  fun- 
nel (&)  until  the  bulb  (d)  is  half 
full.  The  principle  is  exactly 
the  same  as  with  the  previous 
devices.  Should  the  pressure 
decrease  in  the  vessel  air  can 
enter  through  the  liquid  by 
reason  of  the  enlargements  (d 
and  e).  The  enlargement  (c) 
permits  the  escape  of  gas  from 
the  vessel  without  driving  out 
the  control  liquid. 

A  very  simple  device  is 
shown  in  figure  18.  This  con- 
sists simply  of  a  bent  tube  in- 
serted in  a  perforated  bung, 
*  the  outer  end  being  so  placed 
that  it  rests  below  the  surface 
of  the  liquid  in  a  basin.  This 
device  is  very  faulty  because 
if,  for  any  reason,  pressure 
decreases  in  the  cask  the  liquor 
from  the  basin  will  be  drawn 
into  the  must.  In  practice  the 
best  devices  are  found  to  be 
of  the  greatest  assistance  in 
indicating  the  activity  of  the 
fermentation.  To  the  practiced  operator  they  become  at  once  the 
barometer  which  warns  him  of  danger  or  assures  him  of  the  proper 
progress  of  fermentation. 

VENTILATING   BUNGS   AND   SPIGOTS   FOR   CASKS. 

In  connection  with  the  subject  of  fermentation  funnels,  the  use  of  a 
ventilating  bung  should  be  mentioned.  After  the  first  fermentation 
has  subsided  and  the  liquor  has  been  placed  in  casks  for  the  second 
fermentation,  it  is  desirable  to  close  the  casks  tightly— at  least  so  as  to 
exclude  as  far  as  possible  the  entrance  of  air.  Yet  in  so  doing  one 


FIG.  17.— Glycerin  ventilating  funnel. 


85 


can  not  be  certain  but  that  a  sufficiently  strong  fermentation  may  set 
in  to  spring  the  staves  or  head  of  the  cask.  This  misfortune  is  obvi- 
ated by  using  some  sort  of  a  saf  ety  vent. 

The  best  simple  vent  for  this  purpose  that  was  seen  is  the  Noel 
vent  bung  (fig.  19).  A  central  opening  of  sufficient  size  is  cut  about 
half  way  through  this  bung  and  then  is  continued  at  a  diameter  about 
one-half  as  great  the  rest  of  the  way.  On  the  shoulder  thus  formed 
a  valve  (a)  is  placed  and  held  by  the  spiral  spring  seen  in  the  cross 


FIG.  18.— Bent  ventilating  tube. 

section.  The  spring  is  supported  above  by  a  metal  plate  screwed 
over  the  opening  in  the  top  of  the  bung.  The  spring  should  be  of 
sufficient  strength  to  hold  2  to  4  pounds  of  pressure,  and  the  mech- 
anism of  the  valve  and  its  seat  should  be  so  perfect  as  to  prevent 
the  ingress  of  air.  If  the  bung  is  sterilized  and  driven  tightly  into 
place,  it  will  insure  proper  ventilation  of  the  barrel  or  cask  and  pro- 
tect the  liquor  very  well  from  the  entrance  of  extraneous  organisms. 

One  of  the  most  important  considerations 
about  the  fermentation  casks  is  the  means  of 
drawing  off  the  liquor  readily  when  this 
becomes  necessary.  Many  instances  were 
seen  in  England  and  Germany  where  the 
fermentation  was  carried  on  in  barrels  and 
casks  which  had  but  one  opening,  namely, 
the  large  bunghole;  hence,  in  racking  off,  it 
was  necessary  to  introduce  a  pipe  at  this  opening,  lower  it  to  what 
was  considered  a  proper  position,  and  then  siphon  off  the  liquid. 
This  method  is  extremely  faulty,  however,  because  of  the  disturbance 
of  the  top  lees  and  the  difficulty  of  determining  the  depth  to  which 
the  tube  should  be  lowered  into  the  vessel  so  as  not  to  take  up  the 
dregs. 

Every  vessel  used  for  fermenting  the  must  should  be  furnished  with 
a  spigot  so  situated  that  it  will  draw  off  the  liquor  as  near  to  the  dregs 


FIG.  19.— Noel  ventilating  bung. 


86 

as  can  be  safely  accomplished  without  disturbing  them.  If  this  spigot 
can  be  furnished  at  the  outer  end  with  a  hose  connection  of  proper 
size  the  liquor  can  be  run  directly  to  the  cask  designed  for  second  fer- 
mentation in  those  buildings  where  successive  cellar  stories  are  used. 
In  this  case  it  is  necessary  to  fit  a  glass  bulb  into  the  hose  so  as  to 
watch  the  condition  of  the  liquor  as  it  flows.  If  the  must  is  transfer- 
red to  vessels  on  the  same  level  a  pump  is  generally  used.  The  French 
makers  commonly  place  spigots  in  all  vessels  employed  for  fer- 
mentation work.  These  enable  them  to  note  precisely  the  condition  of 
the  must  without  disturbing  the  lees.  The  large  casks  should  also  be 
uniformly  fitted  with  manholes  in  order  that  they  may  be  readily 
cleaned  after  use. 

THE    CHARACTER   OF   THE    MUST. 

On  bringing  the  must  into  the  casks  or  vats  for  fermentation,  it  is 
of  prime  importance  that  the  operator  should  know  its  composition  as 
nearly  as  may  be.  To  determine  this  accurately  is  the  work  of  a 
chemist,  but  at  no  factory  visited  was  there  evidence  of  the  employ- 
ment of  a  chemist  for  this  purpose.  True,  a  number  of  the  proprie- 
tors are  themselves  analysts. 


USE    OF   DENSIMETERS. 


Everywhere  in  Europe  the  makers  use,  with  more  or  less  care,  some 
form  of  must  spindle  or  densimeter  for  estimating  the  sugar  content  of 
the  juice.  Those  most  commonly  used  are  the  ordinary  specific  gravity 
spindle,  the  Oechsle  spindle  (which,  in  fact,  is  the  same  thing  with  the 
first  two  figures  on  the  left  omitted),  and  the  Beaume  must  spindle. 
The  last  is  not  a  convenient  form  of  spindle,  as  may  be  seen  from 
Table  XI.  Its  degrees  do  not  permit  of  ready  comparison  with  other 
standards. 

It  is  the  custom  to  take  the  density  of  the  fresh  must  on  one  of  these 
spindles  and  mark  the  result  on  the  casks.  Some  makers  keep  a  record 
of  the  casks  by  number  in  a  cellar  book,  and  enter  not  only  these  data, 
but  notes  on  the  fruit  used,  the  character  of  the  fermentation  as  it 
progresses,  and  all  subsequent  readings  of  density  and  manipulations 
of  the  cider.  Also  the  records  of  temperature  of  the  must  and  cellar 
are  kept.  Without  some  such  system  intelligent  control  of  the  work 
is  impossible. 

The  following  table  gives  a  comparison  of  the  readings  of  the  three 
spindles  mentioned,  the  proximate  percentages  of  sugar  at  the  different 
densities,  and  the  approximate  percentage  of  alcohol  which  will  result 
from  its  fermentation  at  each  reading  of  the  densimeter: 


87 


TABLE  XI. — Readings  of  different  densimeters  and  approximate  solids  and  sugar  content, 
ivith  the  indicated  percentage  of  alcohol  after  fermentation  is  completed. 


Specific 
gravity. 

Oechsle. 

Beaumt>. 

Solids. 

Sugar. 

Alcohol. 

Degrees. 

Degrees. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

1.040 

40 

5.7 

10.0 

8.00 

4.0 

1.041 

41 

5.8 

10.3 

8.21 

4.105 

1.042 

42 

5.9 

10.5 

8.42 

4.21 

1.043 

43 

6.1 

10.7 

8.63 

4.315 

1.044 

44 

6.2 

11.0 

8.84 

4.42 

1.045 

45 

6.3 

11.2 

9.05 

4.  525 

1.046 

46 

6.5 

11.5 

9.27 

4.635 

1.047 

47 

6.6 

11.7 

9.49 

4.  745 

1.048 

48 

6.7 

11.9 

9.71 

4.855 

1.049 

49 

6.9 

12.2 

9.93 

4.965 

1.  050 

50 

7.0 

12.4 

10.15 

5.075 

1.051 

51 

7.1 

12.6 

10.38 

5.19 

1.052 

52 

7.3 

12.9 

10.61 

5.305 

1.053 

53 

7.4 

13.1 

10.84 

5.42 

1.054 

54 

7.5 

13.3 

11.07 

5.535 

1.055 

55 

7.  7              13.  6 

11.30 

5.65 

1.056 

56 

7.  8              13.  8 

11.54 

5.77 

1.057 

57 

7.9              14.0 

11.78 

5.89 

1.058 

58 

8.1 

14.3 

12.02 

6.01 

1.059 

59 

8.2 

14.5 

12.26 

6.13 

1.060 

60 

8.3 

14.7 

12.50 

6.25 

1.061 

61 

8.5 

15.0 

12.75 

6.375 

1.062 

62 

8.55 

15.2 

13.00 

6.50 

1.063 

63 

8.7 

15.4 

13.25 

6.  625 

1.064 

64 

8.9 

15.7 

13.50 

6.75 

1.065 

65 

9.0 

15.9 

13.75 

6.875 

1.066 

66 

9.1 

16.1 

14.01 

7.005 

1.067 

67 

9.2 

16.3 

14.27 

7.135 

1.068 

68 

9.4 

16.6 

14.53 

7.265 

1.069 

69 

9.5 

16.8 

14.79 

7.395 

1.070 

70 

9.6 

17.0 

15.05 

7.525 

1.071 

71 

9.8 

17.3 

15.32 

7.66 

1.072 

72 

9.9 

17.5 

15.59 

7.  795 

1.073 

73 

10.0 

17.7 

15.96 

7.98 

1.074 

74 

10.1 

17.9 

16.23 

8.115 

1.075 

75 

10.3 

18.2 

16.50 

8.25 

WHAT    IS    A    STANDARD    MUST? 

To  this  query  the  investigations  made  have  given  no  answer,  nor 
does  the  literature  materially  aid  one.  There  have  been  presented  in 
some  of  the  preceding  sections  many  analyses  of  apple  must  made  in 
different  countries,  and  hundreds  more  could  be  quoted.  These  analy- 
ses differ  widely  from  the  standards  of  the  tables  arranged  by  differ- 
ent authors  to  show  the  saccharine  content  of  a  fruit  juice  in  comparison 
with  specific  gravity.  Unfortunately,  the  methods  and  the  instruments 
used  are  far  from  uniform  in  the  various  laboratories  where  these 
determinations  have  been  made,  and  the  chemists  making  them  must 
necessarily  vary  in  skill  and  precision;  hence  a  mere  inspection  and 
comparison  of  these  data  do  not  lead  to  a  true  conclusion  in  regard  to 
the  composition  of  apple  must.  But  this  is  the  best  that  can  be  done 
at  present,  and  the  averages  of  the  data  previously  presented  are 
assembled  in  Table  XII  to  serve  our  purpose  in  discussing  the  prob- 
able standard  sugar  content  of  a  must: 


88 


TABLE  XII. — Average  composition  of  apple  must  for  different  countries. 


Countries. 

Number 
of  varie- 
ties. 

Number 
of 
analyses. 

Specific 
gravity. 

Total 
sugar. 

Average 
total 
sugar. 

Acid. 

Tannin. 

French  standard  list  

12 

292 

1.0725 

Per  cent. 
15.98 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 
0.229 

Per  cent. 
0.  262 

24 

79 

1.0732 

15.55 

0.192 

0.  2H9 

German  (Kulisch) 

29 

29 

1.0569 

12.04 

0.460 

17 

17 

1  0590 

13  38 

12.12 

15 

15 

1  0530 

10.94 

0.64 

English  (Lloyd)  

10 

24 

1.0652 

14.56 

14.30 

0.303 

0.220 

10 

10 

1  0552 

11.94 

10.453 

24 

24 

1.  0530 

9.58 

0.35 

0.  022 

American  (Department  of  Ag- 

21 

21 

1  0535 

10.  45 

10.66 

0.37 

From  a  comparison  of  the  analyses  given  it  is  evident  that  the  juice 
of  the  apple  varies  in  average  sugar  content  in  relation  to  specific 
gravity  in  the  different  countries  and  in  different  parts  of  the  same 
country.  In  fact  a  wide  variation  may  be  found  in  comparing  differ- 
ent varieties  of  apples  from  the  same  orchard.  This  is  a  matter  not 
yet  properly  investigated,  but  the  existence  of  such  variation  must  be 
conceded.  Hence  no  strictly  standard  table  of  sugar  contents  in  rela- 
tion to  specific  gravity  is  possible. 

Careful  inspection  of  the  published  tables  on  specific  gravity  and 
relative  sugar  content,  and  a  study  of  the  actual  analyses  of  apple 
must  available,  lead  one  to  believe  that  the  theoretical  sugar  content 
usually  given  is  too  high.  In  Table  No.  XI,  there  is  given  for  com- 
parison the  approximate  sugar  content  which,  in  the  writer's  opinion, 
is  likely  to  be  found  in  normal  apple  must  at  the  different  densities 
indicated.  True,  the  sugar  percentages  adopted  in  this  table  are  empir- 
ical, but  they  are  such  probable  averages  within  a  small  percentage  of 
error  that  they  are  used  to  construct  a  table  (No.  XIII)  to  be  used  as 
a  cellar  guide  in  fermenting  cider.  This  table  appears  to  serve  a  very 
definite  purpose,  first,  as  a  guide  in  the  technique  of  fermentation,  and, 
second,  to  assist  in  some  measure  in  elucidating  the  further  discussion. 
Table  No.  XI  aids  the  manipulator  of  the  must  to  estimate  with  con- 
siderable accuracy  the  sugar  in  the  fresh  must,  and  Table  No.  XIII 
assists  him  in  watching  intelligently  the  progress  of  fermentation. 
Thus,  by  the  latter  table,  he  is  able  to  ascertain  quickly  the  approxi- 
mate quantities  of  sugar  and  alcohol  in  a  fermenting  must  of  known 
original  density. 

Attention  was  called  to  the  presentation  of  these  data  in  this  form 
by  the  work  of  Mr.  F.  J.  Lloyd,  consulting  chemist  on  cider  experi- 
ments of  the  Bath  and  West  of  England  Society.  The  work  done 
under  his  direction  on  cellar  records  and  technique  was  observed  care- 
fully, and  the  ideas  presented  in  his  table  and  remarks  in  the  journal 
of  the  above  society  for  1896  (pp.  139-164)  are  considered  as  very 
important.  The  same  may  be  said  of  his  other  papers.  The  writer  was 
.not  able,  however,  to  adopt  the  figures  of  Mr.  Lloyd's  table  for  deter- 
mining the  percentages  of  sugar  and  alcohol  in  fermenting  must  of  a 


89 


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90 

known  original  specific  gravity.  But  by  a  study  of  the  principle 
involved  in  this  table,  and  by  comparison  with  standard  tables  on  spe- 
cific gravity  and  relative  sugar  content,  and  the  actual  analyses,  Table 
No.  XIII  has  been  constructed.  By  it  an  operator  may  determine 
at  any  reading,  between  1.040  and  1.070  on  a  standard  hydrometer, 
the  probable  sugar  content  present,  and  the  approximate  alcoholic 
strength  of  the  liquor.  Thus  he  is  enabled  to  know  how  the  fermen- 
tation is  progressing.  As  a  cellar  guide  this  will  be  a  very  important 
help,  and  by  reference  to  it  the  later  discussion  on  the  manipulation 
of  the  must  will  be  more  intelligible. 

As  a  basis  for  this  table  it  was  assumed  that  a  must  reading  1.040 
specific  gravity,  contains  8  per  cent  of  sugar.  Kramer  says  9  per  cent, 
but  this  is  surely  too  high  for  apples.  Power  says  8.9  per  cent,  which 
is  also  too  high,  at  least  for  American  fruit.  Kramer's  table  then  allows 
1  per  cent  increase  in  sugar  for  each  5  points  (0.005)  on  the  hydrom- 
eter, but  this  if  logically  carried  out  requires  that  the  nonsaccharine 
solids  increase  proportionally  more  rapidly  than  the  saccharine  sub- 
stances. Analytical  data  are  against  this  theory;  hence,  it  has  been 
estimated  that  the  sugars  increase  1.05  per  cent  for  the  first  5  points 
above  1.040,  and  be3rond  that  at  an  increasing  ratio  found  by  adding 
an  additional  0.05  per  cent  of  sugar  for  each  subsequent  5  points 
(0.005)  on  the  hydrometer. 

But  turning  to  the  subject  of  relative  decrease  in  sugar  content 
below  1.040  it  becomes  necessary  to  allow  a  loss  of  1  per  cent  for  each 
0.005  on  the  hydrometer  in  order  to  exhaust  the  8  per  cent  of  sugar  at 
unity — 1.000  on  the  hydrometer.  Yet,  as  there  are  solids  other  than 
sugar  present,  it  is  altogether  improbable  that  this  will  show  the  true 
percentages  if  the  liquid  is  considered  to  be  water;  but  it  really  con- 
sists of  a  mixture  of  two  liquids,  water  which  constitutes  much  the 
greater  part,  and  alcohol  which  is  lighter  than  water  and  which  enters 
into  the  mixture  in  a  constantly  increasing  proportion  as  fermentation 
progresses.  Hence,  for  a  must  originally  showing  8  per  cent  of  sugar, 
it  is  probable  that  unity  (1.000  on  the  hydrometer)  will  about  bring  it 
to  diyness;rt  but  by  the  same  reasoning  richer  musts  will  not  come  to 
entire  dryness  at  unity.  This  the  table  shows  when  carried  out  on  the 
principle  that  for  each  1  per  cent  of  sugar  lost,  0.5  per  cent  of  alcohol 
is  formed.  This  ratio  of  alcohol  for  fermentable  sugars  is  only 
approximately  correct. 

In  using  this  table  as  a  cellar  guide,  one  notes  in  the  left  hand  col- 
umn the  hydrometer  reading  corresponding  with  the  original  density 
recorded  for  the  must,  and  then  finds  in  the  box  heads  the  present 
reading  of  the  hydrometer;  the  figures  for  sugar  and  alcohol  percent- 
ages at  the  intersection  of  the  lines  from  these  two  readings  will 
show  approximately  the  present  condition  of  the  must  as  to  alcohol 
and  sugar  content. 

a  In  the  technical  phrase  of  fermentation  work  "  dryness  "  means  total  absence  of 
sugar. 


91 


FORTIFYING    THE    MUST. 


In  this  connection  a  few  observations  on  the  subject  of  fortifying 
the  must  will  be  apposite.  This  practice  was  not  observed  either  in 
England  or  Germany.  Doubtless  it  may  be  done  in  these  countries, 
especially  in  case -of  perry  (pear  cider),  but  it  did  not  seem  to  be  a 
part  of  the  regular  system  of  cider  making.  In  France,  on  the  con- 
trary, sugaring  up  the  weak  must  obtained  from  second  pressing 
seems  to  be  an  important  part  of  the  business,  and  is  so  regularly 
practiced  that  the  government  makes  a  special  rebate  of  the  sugar  tax 
on  sugar  so  used.  The  government  agents,  however,  very  carefully 
see  to  it  that  all  sugar  withdrawn  from  bond  for  this  purpose  is 
denaturalized  by  addition  of  must,  so  that  it  can  not  possibly  be  resold 
in  the  markets.  For  1898  (the  figures  for  that  year  being  the  latest 
obtained)  the  government  officers  reported  188,760  pounds  of  sugar 
withdrawn  for  ciober  making,  and  80,262,771  pounds  withdrawn  for 
sugaring  wines. 

An  apple  must  reading  1.040  on  a  standard  hydrometer  can,  if  prop- 
erly handled,  be  made  to  produce  a  cider  approximating  4  per  cent 
of  alcohol,  but  it  will  be  rare  indeed  that  this  result  will  actually  be 
reached  in  practice.  Hence  it  appears  that  a  must  reading  at  that 
figure  is  about  the  minimum  in  quality  which  can  be  properly  employed 
for  cider  without  fortifying,  and  this  grade  should  be  used  only  to 
prepare  a  cider  for  local  consumption.  This  is  not  because  a  high 
percentage  of  alcohol  is  so  desirable,  but  because  it  is  not  desirable  to 
push  the  fermentation  of  a  cider  to  the  limit  where  there  is  no  sac- 
charine substance  left  for  the  yeast  to  subsist  upon,  that  is,  until  the 
liquor  is  absolutely  "dry." 

If  the  cider  is  properly  handled,  the  3reast  will  not  entirely  cease  to 
be  active  for  several  years  after  bottling.  This  activity  is  of  the 
greatest  value  in  preserving  the  bouquet  of  the  cider  and  keeping  it 
sound.  But  if  it  is  desired  to  produce  a  stronger  cider  from  a  low- 
grade  must,  reading  approximately  1.040,  one  can  add  about  3  ounces 
of  crystallized  sugar  per  gallon  for  each  1  per  cent  of  alcohol  desired 
in  addition  to  the  normal  quantity  resulting  from  fermenting  the 
natural  must.  This,  howev.er,  denaturalizes  the  cider,  and  should  not 
be  resorted  to  in  excess  of  1  per  cent  increase  of  alcohol. 

The  French  say  the  sugar  should  be  inverted  before  using,  but  this 
seems  doubtful,  as  the  yeast  will  accomplish  this  itself,  and  probably 
the  sugar  will  be  consumed  more  slowly. 


STERILIZING    THE    MUST   BY    HEAT. 


This  process  is  mentioned  only  to  condemn  it  so  far  as  cider  making 
is  concerned.  Not  a  single  maker  worthy  of  credence  in  the  factories 
visited  abroad  recommends  or  uses  this  method.  It  has  been  suggested 
as  a  means  of  controlling  the  initial  fermentation,  because,  after  ster- 


92 

ilizing  by  heat,  one  can  sow  yeasts  into  the  must  as  desired,  and  thus 
bring  about  a  fermentation  at  will,  but  the  cooked  taste  contributed 
to  the  must  by  heating  is  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  overcome. 
Heating  or  pasteurizing  to  check  fermentation  or  insure  keeping  of 
cider  is  also  just  as  faulty,  and  is  never  necessary  in  a  properly  man- 
aged cellar,  unless  one  desires  to  preserve  a  partially  fermented  cider. 
For  this  purpose  pasteurization  at  60  to  70°  C.  is  practicable  with  goods 
which  have  sufficiently  fermented  in  bottles  to  become  sparkling. 

THE   USE    OF   SPECIAL   YEASTS. 

Having  brought  the  fresh  must  into  the  casks  or  vats  for  fermenta- 
tion, the  modern  cider  maker  has  to  consider  not  only  the  temperature 
of  the  must  and  of  the  room  and  the  various  other  conditions  already 
discussed,  but  also  another  question  of  very  great  importance:  Shall 
the  fermentation  be  left  to  the  organisms  normally  present  on  the 
fruit  and  those  which  may  at  the  time  of  grinding  and  pressing  enter 
the  must  from  contact  with  the  air,  the  machinery,  and  the  vessels? 
Every  cider  maker  knows  that  under  proper  temperature  conditions 
fermentation  will  quickly  ensue  after  the  juice  has  been  placed  in  a 
receptacle.  But  the  operator  untrained  in  the  scientific  phases  of  this 
subject  may  not  -know  how  readily  numerous  undesirable  organisms 
gain  access  to  the  fruit  juice.  These  objectionable  organisms  are  sure 
to  be  present  upon  the  fruit,  and  especially  so  if  unclean  and  unsound 
fruit  is  used.  Or  they  may  be  present  in  parts  of  the  machinery, 
especially  if  any  parts  have  been  left  mrcleaned  after  previous  usage; 
and,  what  is  perhaps  still  more  important,  these  organisms  may  be 
present  in  great  number  in  unclean  barrels,  casks,  or  other  vessels. 

The  numerous  organisms  (microscopic  plants),  both  useful  and  harm- 
ful, which  grow  readily  in  fruit  must,  can  not  be  discussed  here. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  quality  of  the  resultant  product  depends  upon 
ivhether  desirable  or  undesirable  organisms  gain  the  mastery  in  the  must 
during  initial  fermentation. 

In  order  to  insure  the  ascendency  of  the  true  yeasts  in  the  early 
stages,  and  thus  give  them  the  control  of  the  entire  process  of  fer- 
mentation, there  has  recently  been  developed  the  practice  of  sowing 
the  must  with  pure  cultures  of  yeasts.  Very  often  now  special  races 
of  yeasts  are  used  in  order  to  secure  certain  desired  qualities  of 
bouquet,  etc. ,  in  the  finished  product.  This  practice  is  based  upon  the 
same  principles  as  those  which  induce  the  good  housewife  to  employ 
a  proper  yeast  culture  to  make  bread  for  the  table. 

The  discussion  of  this  question  in  its  various  phases  will  not  be 
undertaken  here,  but  it  should  be  noted  that  the  practice  of  using 
pure  and  special  cultures  of  yeast  is  becoming  more  and  more  common 
in  foreign  countries.  In  Germany  practically  all  the  important  fac- 
tories visited  employ  these  cultures,  which  are  obtained  in  small  flasks 


93 

from  the  Royal  Pomological  School  at  Geisenheim.  The  French 
makers  are  not  at  all  unanimous  in  regard  to  the  importance  of  using 
pure  yeasts,  and,  from  the  observations  made,  it  appears  that  very 
few  use  them  intelligently.  This  is  probably  one  of  the  important 
reasons  why  French  ciders  lack  that  standard  character  so  observable 
in  German  ciders. 

Below  is  given  a  free  translation  of  the  directions  for  using  pure 
yeast  cultures  sent  out  by  Dr.  Wortmann  from  Geisenheim  to  all  pur- 
chasers of  the  same: 

DIRECTIONS    FOB   THE    EMPLOYMENT  OF    PURE    YEASTS    IN    THE    FERMENTATION    OF    MUST. 

The  flask  containing  the  pure  yeast  should  not  be  opened  until  just  before  using. 
Until  then,  in  case  it  can  not  be  used  immediately,  it  should  be  kept  standing  in  a 
cool,  dry  place  (preferably  an  ice  chest) ;  but  it  will  not  serve  as  a  good  starter  if  left 
longer  than  two  weeks,  because  the  organisms  decrease  in  vitality  with  time. 

Some  days  before  the  beginning  of  the  real  vintage,  prepare  about  10  gallons  of 
freshly  pressed  must  and  boil  it  about  five  minutes  (but  not  in  a  copper  vessel ), 
then  put  this  boiled  must  into  a  wooden  vessel,  preferably  a  keg,  while  it  is  yet  hot, 
and,  after  covering  it  with  a  clean  linen  cloth,  let  it  cool  off  again  to  room  temperature 
(about  20°  C.  or  68°  F. ).  Just  as  soon  as  cool  enough,  the  contents  of  the  flask  of 
yeast  should  be  poured  into  the  must. 

During  transportation  a  fresh-growing  culture  will  have  developed  a  strong  pres- 
sure, and,  therefore,  in  opening  the  flask  the  yeast  may  be  partly  lost  through  dis- 
charge caused  by  the  gas.  To  obviate  this,  first  bore  through  the  stopper  with  a 
corkscrew,  and  let  the  flask  stand  some  minutes  until  the  carbon  dioxid  gas  escapes, 
when  there  will  be  no  danger.  Open  the  flask  in  such  a  way  that  it  is  held  with  the 
mouth  inclined  over  the  vessel  containing  the  cooled  must.  The  flask  should  be 
rinsed  out  once  with  must;  the  keg  or  vessel  should  then  be  well  covered  and  kept 
at  room  temperature,  free  from  dust,  until  the  must  shows  violent  fermentation, 
which  will  be  in  two  or  three  days. 

The  use  of  this  10  gallons  of  pure  yeast  culture  will  now  be  according  to  the  quan- 
tity of  must  which  is  to  be  fermented.  With  ordinary  must — that  is,  must  reading 
1. 050  to  1. 060  specific  gravity — 1  gallon  of  the  fermenting  must  is  sufficient  for  from 
250  to  300  gallons  of  fresh  must,  and  will  bring  it  into  fermentation  promptly.  With 
larger  quantities  of  must,  one  should  take  a  proportionally  larger  quantity  of  the  fer- 
menting culture  first  made. 

For  large  establishments,  a  culture  of  50  or  100  gallons  can  be  first  made  by  boil- 
ing the  necessary  must,  putting  it  while  hot  into  a  perfectly  clean  but  unsulphured 
barrel  or  cask.  Sow  as  soon  as  cool  with  the  yeast  culture  and  handle  just  as 
directed  above. 

This  large  culture  of  must  fermenting  with  the  pure  yeast  can  serve  as  a  supply 
from  which  the  necessary  quantity  for  starting  the  vats  can  be  taken  as  needed,  but 
fresh  must  should  be  boiled,  cooled,  and  added  to  it  as  often  as  any  of  the  culture  is 
removed  for  use. 

In  this  manner  one  can  draw  from  this  supply  according  to  his  needs.  So  long  as 
the  fermentation  is  kept  very  active  and  the  bung  or  opening  well  guarded,  the  cul- 
ture will  remain  pure  enough  for  practical  purposes. 

As  the  pure  yeast  is  only  efficacious  if  it  comes  in  contact  with  fresh  must,  so  one 
can,  in  case  the  pulp  is  allowed  to  ferment  before  pressing,  by  the  prompt  addition 
of  the  yeast  to  the  pulp  as  ground,  control  the  fermentation  in  the  same.  But  in 
this  case  the  addition  of  the  pure  yeast  in  the  proportional  quantities  must  be  made 
to  the  pulp  as  ground.  This  operation  is  especially  necessary  in  the  preparation  of 
red  wine. 


94 

As  by  the  addition  of  pure  yeast  fermentation  starts  up  sooner,  and  also  runs  its 
course  more  quickly,  the  temperature  of  the  fermenting  rooms  must  not  be  too  high, 
or  else  too  violent  a  fermentation  will  be  induced.  It  is  sufficient  to  warm  the  fer- 
menting rooms  or  cellars  to  about  55°  to  60°  F.  Also  it  is  best  to  leave  plenty  of 
space  in  the  casks  for  foam  and  vegetable  matter  thrown  up  by  fermentation. 

With  pure  yeast  cider  wall  be  finished  earlier  and  clear  itself  sooner  than  when 
fermented  without  the  addition  of  pure  yeast;  therefore,  with  this  method  cider 
must  be  racked  off  earlier  than  in  case  of  spontaneous  fermentation. 

OBSERVATION    AND    CONTROL   OF    FERMENTATION. 

The  theoretic  discussion  of  the  physical  phenomena  involved  in  this 
process  is  not  to  be  attempted  here,  and  the  brief  discussion  given  is 
only  warranted  in  such  a  report  as  this  for  the  sake  of  rendering  com- 
prehensible the  operations  and  details  described. 

DEFINITION   AND   DESCRIPTION   OP   FERMENTATION.* 

There  was  a  time  when  this  word  was  used  to  indicate  the  entire 
range  of  chemical  changes  which  might  occur  in  organic  substances. 
To-day,  with  more  exact  knowledge  on  the  subject,  fermentation  is 
limited  to  those  changes  which  are  induced  by  the  growth  of  micro- 
scopic plants  in  organic  substances.  In  the  case  of  fruit  juices,  these 
organisms  are  bacteria  and  the  true  fungi,  principally  the  latter.  The 
fungous  organisms  considered  belong  to  the  group  known  as  the 
Saccharomyces,  or  yeast  fungi,  to  other  closely  related  nonmycelial 
forms,  and  to  the  Mucorini  and  some  few  other  true  niycelial  forms. 

Fermentation  as  relates  to  the  physical  phenomena  involved  may  be 
defined  as  the  breaking  up  of  organic  substance  in  solution  as  a  result 
of  the  chemical  activities  of  certain  substances  secreted  during  the 
growth  of  these  microscopic  plants;  and  alcoholic  fermentation,  as 
the  result  of  the  breaking  up  of  sugars  into  alcohol  and  carbonic  acid, 
caused  by  the  action  of  zymase,  a  ferment  secreted  during  the  growth 
of  the  yeast  plants.  Incidentally,  sugar  may  be  broken  up  into  alcohol 
and  carbon  dioxid  by  a  few  other  fungous  forms.  The  yeasts,  or  Sac- 
charomyces proper,  are,  however,  the  true  alcoholic  ferments.  Other 
forms  need  be  only  incidentally  considered.  The  normal  substratum, 
or  place  of  growth  of  the  yeasts  proper,  is  the  sugar  solutions  con- 
tained in  the  juices  of  fruits,  or  sugary  compounds,  in  whatever  parts 
of  various  plants  they  may  occur.  As  a  result  of  the  growth  of  these 
yeast  fungi,  alcohol  and  carbon  dioxid  are  formed.  The  first  remains 
in  the  liquid  and  the  second  largely  escapes  as  a  gas.  Theoretically, 
about  51.11  parts  of  alcohol  will  be  formed  and  about  48.89  parts  car- 
bon dioxid.  Or  we  may  say  in  general  terms  that  the  alcohol  formed 
by  properly  controlled  fermentation  will  practically  equal  one-half  the 
sugar  destroyed.  The  yeasts  are  said  to  consume  a  small  percentage 
of  the  alcohol. 


«  Adapted  from  a  paper  presented  by  the  writer  before  the  American  Pomological 
Society,  September,  1901. 


95 

The  following1  is  quoted  from  Dr.  Cluss:a 

Under  fermentation  in  its  widest  sense  we  understand  every  change  in  a  substance 
that  is  brought  about,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  by  the  activity  of  low  plant  forms. 
Under  fermentation  in  a  narrower  sense,  or  alcoholic  fermentation,  we  understand 
every  change  in  a  substance  by  which  certain  kinds  of  sugar  are  decomposed  through 
the  activity  of  germs,  so  that,  as  the  principal  products  of  this  decomposition,  alcohol 
and  carbonic-acid  gas  appear. 

In  alcohol  fermentation,  as  in  every  form  of  fermentation,  we  must  consider  three 
principal  factors: 

(1)  The  fermentation  material,  or  the  substance  which  is  to  be  decomposed. 

(2)  The  fermentation  products;  that  is,  those  bodies  that  arise  from  the  decompo- 
sition of  the  sugars. 

(3)  The  controlling  organisms  of  the  fermentation;  i.  e.,  those  plant  forms  which 
cause  the  decomposition. 

The  fermentation  material  for  alcoholic  fermentation  is  provided  by  certain  kinds 
of  sugar,  but  not  all  kinds  of  sugar  are  capable  of  being  fermented.  Among  those 
that  can  be  fermented  are  grape  sugar,  fruit  sugar,  r^alt  sugar,  and  cane  sugar.  But 
while  in  the  brew  mash  and  in  the  wort  of  the  breweries  malt  sugar  predominates, 
in  fruit  juice  grape  sugar  and  fruit  sugar  play  the  principal  role  as  fermentation 
material. 

The  principal  products  of  alcoholic  fermentation  are  ethyl  alcohol  (badly  named 
alcohol)  and  carbon  dioxid  (CO2);  but  there  are  also  small  quantities  of  sulphuric 
acid,  glycerin,  and  other  by-products,  among  these  being  certain  aromatic  sub- 
stances of  great  importance  in  wine  fermentation.  If  the  sugar  were  separated 
evenly  into  alcohol  and  carbon  dioxid,  then  out  of  100  parts  of  grape  sugar  there 
would  arise  51.11  parts  of  the  former  and  48.89  parts  of  the  latter.  But  only  about 
94  or  95  per  cent  of  the  sugar  is  consumed  in  the  pure  alcoholic  fermentation,  and 
the  remaining  part  serves  for  the  building  up  of  these  minor  products  and  for  the 
nourishment  of  the  yeast  germs.  Thus  it  must  be  concluded,  according  to  Pasteur, 
that  out  of  100  parts  of  grape  sugar  arise  48.5  parts  alcohol,  46.6  parts  carbonic  acid, 
3.3  parts  glycerin,  and  0.6  part  sulphuric  acid,  while  about  1  per  cent  of  the  orig- 
inal sugar  is  used  for  the  building  up  of  the  yeast  cells. 

We  have  the  yeasts  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word — that  is,  the  different  kinds  of 
fungi,  as  the  sprouting  fungi,  mold  fungi,  and  splitting  fungi,  which  may  form 
alcohol;  but  above  all  the  rest  the  sprouting  fungi,  as  the  yeast  in  a  narrower  sense 
of  the  word,  play  the  most  important  role. 

While  the  stages  of  fermentation  as  they  should  normally  occur  in 
the  casks  or  vats  will  now  be  dealt  with,  it  should  be  noted  that  there 
is  always  a  possibility  that  mal-organisms  may  at  any  time  gain  con- 
trol of  the  must  and  produce  results  very  different  from  those  desired. 
These  accidents  of  the  fermentation  room  are  due  to  some  of  the  fun- 
gous plants  and  bacteria  which  are  constantly  associated  with  the  true 
alcoholic  ferments  under  all  ordinary  conditions. 

FIRST   OR  TUMULTUOUS   FERMENTATION. 

Given  the  proper  temperature  conditions,  apple  must  at  once  takes 
on  a  very  active  fermentation,  which  has  been  variously  denominated 
as  ''tumultuous,"  "stormy,"  etc.  The  activity  is  greater  in  weak, 
acid  juice  than  in  rich  must  of  good  quality.  Its  progress  is  marked 

"  Free  translation  from  Dr.  A.  Cluss,  "Apfelweinbereitung,"  pp.  63-64,  1901. 


96 

by  the  very  rapid  increase  of  the  yeast  plants,  as  a  result  of  which  a 
sort  of  boiling  of  the  liquid  is  produced,  much  carbonic  acid  gas  is 
liberated,  and  the  minute  bubbles  of  this  gas  rise  through  the  liquid 
and  escape  with  a  hissing  sound,  often  alluded  to  as  the  ''singing  of 
the  cider."  This  development  of  the  yeast  is  likely  to  be  altogether 
too  tumultuous  if  the  temperature  is  high;  hence  the  importance  of 
regulating  the  temperature.  If  the  characteristic  fermentation  super- 
venes within  twent}r-four  to  forty-eight  hours,  it  is  a  sign  that  proper 
progress  is  being  made.  The  liquid  at  once  becomes  turbid  and  much 
disturbed,  and  small  particles  of  vegetable  matter  rise  to  the  surface, 
accompanied  by  more  or  less  viscid  mucilaginous  material,  all  of 
which  is  really  borne  upward  by  the  escaping  gas.  At  first  this  sur- 
face material  is  light  and  frothy,  but  should  assume  more  and  more 
the  character  of  a  well-defined  crust  or  covering,  the  uchapeau"  so 
often  mentioned  by  the  French.  This,  however,  is  not  considered 
important  by  some.  The  English  makers  seem  to  be  pleased  if  the 
head  forms  well  in  their  "keeves,"  because  they  can  then  skim  it  off 
and  be  rid  of  so  much  of  the  lees,  but  if  it  does  not  form  they  make 
no  effort  to  secure  its  formation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  French 
maker,  if  the  head  or  "cbapeau"  does  not  form,  at  once  concludes 
that  his  must  is  sick,  and  takes  steps  to  set  it  right.  It  may  be  that 
unfavorable  temperature  is  the  sole  trouble,  or  at  other  times  there 
really  is  a  lack  of  proper  yeast  organisms  in  the  must. 

No  one  appears  to  explain  this  matter  of  the  formation  of  top  lees  or 
"head"  on  the  basis  of  observed  facts,  nor  does  it  appear  that  any  suffi- 
ciently critical  chemical  study  has  been  made  of  the  subject.  From 
all  the  observations  made  this  seems  to  be  a  very  important  feature  of 
the  first  fermentation,  and  it  should  be  thorough^  studied.  Some  of 
the  remedies  proposed  by  the  manufacturers  for  application  in  case 
the  head  does  not  form  properly,  appear  not  to  deserve  serious  con- 
sideration, namely,  the  addition  of  small  quantities  of  ashes  boiled  in 
cider,  or  of  clay.  The  only  result  of  such  substances  would  be  to 
neutralize  the  acids,  which,  as  a  rule,  would  prove  quite  injurious  to 
the  growth  of  the  yeasts.  In  fact,  the  writer  has  fully  proven  that 
neutralizing  the  acids  checks  the  normal  fermentation  very  decidedly. 
It  is  also  proposed  by  some  makers  to  add  a  portion  of  the  head  from  a 
properly  fermenting  cask;  and  this  has  some  element  of  sound  sense  in 
it,  because  one  would  thus  sow  the  must  with  vigorous  yeasts,  but  he 
would  also  sow  it  with  many  other  organisms,  probably  some  unde- 
sirable ones. 

The  German  makers  care  little  or  nothing  about  the  formation  of 
the  head  or  top  lees,  for  reasons  already  explained,  but  they  watch 
carefully  to  see  that  the  must  comes  into  strong  fermentation,  and  if 
this  does  not  occur  at  the  proper  time  they  sow  strong  yeast  cultures 
into  the  must,  correct  the  temperature  if  necessary,  and,  as  a  yeast 


97 

stimulant,  the}7  sometimes  use  ammonium  cnlorid.  Whether  this  is 
used  to  any  extent  in  the  factories  was  not  ascertained,  but  it  is  used 
in  critical  work.  The  quantity  used  may  vary,  but  ought  to  range 
between  one-half  and  1  gram  per  liter  (2  to  4  grams  to  the  gallon). 

Under  proper  conditions  the  tumultuous  fermentation  subsides  in 
ten  days  to  two  weeks.  The  time  required  may  be  even  longer,  but  it 
should  not  exceed  three  weeks.  The  English  makers  in  general  seemed 
not  to  have  a  very  definite  idea  of  the  duration  of  this  period.  In  fact, 
their  practice  of  skimming  the  head  tends  to  defeat  the  completion  of 
this  first  stage,  and  constantly  agitates  the  liquor  and  sets  up  sec- 
ondary fermentation,  so  that  the  cider  does  not  clear  itself  of  lees, 
and  become  limpid.  The  German  cares  not  a  fig  about  this,  and  permits 
the  head  to  fall  back  through  the  liquor  to  the  bottom.  He  is  thor- 
oughly logical  and  practical  in  what  he  does,  but  he  makes  a  different 
product  from  English,  French,  or  American  cider.  After  a  careful 
study  of  all  the  points  involved,  the  writer  has  adopted  the  French 
views  about  observing  the  formation  of  the  head  and  the  subsequent 
treatment  of  the  cider. 

The  close  of  the  first  period  of  fermentation  is  marked  by  the  prac- 
tical cessation  of  the  escape  of  gas;  the  cider  ceases  to  "sing;"  the 
head,  if  fermentation  has  been  normal,  loses  its  frothy  character, 
becoming  brownish,  and  it  may  crack  in  places;  the  larger  lees,  which 
were  not  upborne  by  the  gas,  and  the  yeast  cells  subside  and  rest  at 
the  bottom  of  the  cask,  and  suddenly  the  cider  becomes  limpid  and  a 
clear  beautiful  amber  in  color.  The  taste  has  improved  and  is  some- 
what piquant,  but  the  liquor  is  yet  sweet  and  very  fruity  in  flavor. 
The  specific  gravity  will  have  fallen  20  or  30  points,  the  alcohol  test 
will  show  2  to  2.5  per  cent,  and  to  many  palates  the  cider  is  in  fine 
condition  for  drinking. 

To  determine  the  condition  of  fermenting  cider  accurately  is  the 
work  of  experience,  and  as  an  aid  in  examining  the  juice  the  spigot 
previously  mentioned  becomes  important.  From  this  a  small  amount 
of  the  cider  can  be  drawn  in  a  glass  vessel  as  the  indications  point  to 
quiescence,  and  by  carefully  observing  its  f reeness  from  lees,  the  color, 
absence  of  effervescence,  specific  gravity,  etc.,  one  may  judge  its  condi- 
tion accurately  and  determine  when  it  is  ready  to  rack  off.  This  is  the 
moment  to  draw  the  cider  from  between  the  lees.  A  few  days'  delay, 
or  any  disturbance  of  the  cask,  may  throw  down  the  head,  and  thus 
the  liquor  at  once  becomes  troubled  and  the  after  fermentation  sets  in. 
If  this  happens,  recourse  must  be  had  to  the  filter,  or  the  German 
method,  described  hereafter,  must  be  followed. 

If  the  first  fermentation  is  well  accomplished,  one  is  now  on  the  high 
road  to  success,  but  the  after  operations  are  so  critical  that  only  an 
expert  may  property  weigh  them. 
17247— No.  71—03 7 


98 


RACKING    OFF. 


The  drawing  of  the  limpid  cider  from  between  the  top  and  bottom 
lees  is,  to  the  Frenchman,  the  critical  operation  of  cider  making. 
Its  correct  attainment  has  a  value  easily  realized  b}T  one  who  has  gone 
through  the  troubles  incident  to  the  use  of  filters.  If  the  vessel  used 
for  first  fermentation  is  properly  furnished  with  a  spigot,  the  cider 
may  be  drawn  into  wooden  vessels  and  poured  through  a  wooden  fun- 
nel into  a  properly  prepared  cask  near  by.  This  is  very  commonly 
the  practice  among  the  small  French  farmers.  Or  it  may  be  drawn 
into  a  larger  wooden  vessel  and  pumped  to  the  cask  prepared  for  it  in 
the  adjoining  room  or  building  for  further  fermentation.  This  is  a 
very  common  practice  in  factories  in  France  and  England. 

In  case  the  casks  are  unprovided  with  spigots,  one  must  siphon  the 
liquor  out  or  draw  it  off  with  a  pump.  Both  of  these  methods  are 
objectionable,  because  one  must  in  either  case  insert  a  hose  at  the  bung 
through  the  top  lees,  which  operation  more  or  less  disturbs  the  cider, 
and,  if  the  cider  runs  directly  into  the  cask  provided  for  second  fer- 
mentation, it  is  impossible  to  observe  the  character  of  the  liquor  as 
it  passes,  and  therefore  difficult  to  rack  it  off  properly.  The  sole 
object  of  racking  off  is  to  free  the  liquor  from  lees  and  the  super- 
abundance of  yeast  cells  so  that  the  secondary  fermentation  may  pro- 
gress quietly.  If  a  portion  of  the  lees  and  the  deposited  yeast  is 
carried  over,  the  operation  has  resulted  in  little  good  and  a  second 
more  or  less  violent  fermenation  may  supervene.  In  fact,  this  second 
fermentation  may  be  very  dangerous  if  albuminous  substances  have 
been  carried  over  or  if  one  allows  the  lees  to  enter  the  cask  into  which 
the  cider  is  drawn. 


AVOIDANCE   OF    CONTACT  WITH    AIR. 


An  important  precaution  mentioned  by  several  well-posted  makers, 
but  which  was  scarcely  observed  at  all,  was  that,  in  racking  off,  the 
cider  ought  not  to  come  in  contact  with  the  air  any  more  than  can  pos- 
sibly be  avoided.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  liquor  at  this  stage  is 
saturated  with  carbonic  acid  gas,  which  is  the  greatest  safeguard  against 
the  growth  of  mal -organisms;  hence,  if  it  can  be  drawn  directly  into 
the  receptacle  provided  for  second  fermentation  without  loss  of  the 
gas  or  direct  contact  with  the  air,  much  has  been  gained  in  regard  to 
the  safety  of  the  further  processes.  This  can  be  readily  accomplished 
wherever  the  factory  is  constructed  so  that  the  fermentation  room  is 
over  the  finishing  or  final  storeroom.  When  one  is  ready  to  rack  off, 
a  hose  connection  should  be  made  with  the  spigot,  or  by  siphon  if  casks 
are  not  provided  with  spigots,  and  the  hose  should  run  directly  into 
the  receptacle  in  the  room  below.  If  this  is  done  it  will  be  necessary 
to  introduce  near  the  spigot  or  siphon  a  section  of  glass  tube,  so  that 
the  operator  may  constantly  observe  the  character  of  the  liquor  as  it 


99 

passes,  and  at  once  cut  off  the  flow  if  undesirable  particles  are  passing. 
In  siphoning,  a  perfectly  clean  hose  should  be  carried  almost  to  the 
bottom  of  the  receptacle,  so  the  cider  shall  not  fall  or  be  agitated  in 
any  manner.  It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  fill  the  clean  vessel  with  car- 
bon dioxid  gas  before  racking  into  it,  and  then  the  cider  will  not 
have  an  opportunit}^  to  absorb  oxygen  in  the  least. 

Racking  off  by  the  method  here  described,  viz,  drawing  the  cider 
from  between  the  two  lees,  requires  the  most  careful  observation  and 
control.  (It  should  be  said  here  that  we  do  not  yet  know  whether  a 
head  will  always  form  on  must  from  our  ordinary  American  apples. 
The  experiments  made  by  the  writer  thus  far  are  not  conclusive, 
and  a  chemical  and  biological  study  of  the  subject  is  yet  to  be  made.) 
Working  by  this  method  it  is  possible  that  one  will  find  more  refuse 
or  residuum  remaining  from  each  cask  than  he  cares  to  lose,  but  this 
possible  loss  does  not  compare  with  the  loss  occasioned  by  the  labor 
and  difficulties  encountered  in  the  use  of  filters,  though  these  may 
appear  to  use  the  stock  a  little  more  closely. 

If  the  fermentation  casks  are  properly  fitted,  the  cider  is  drawn 
down  until  the  top  lees  and  bottom  lees  practically  meet.  This  is 
determined  by  observing  when  the  particles  begin  to  pass  from  the 
spigot  or  siphon.  One  can  draw  quite  closely  by  putting  the  last  few 
gallons  into  a  vessel  for  subsidence  to  take  place  before  adding  to  the 
clear  liquor.  The  lees  should  be  removed  at  once  from  the  casks,  and 
instead  of  being  thrown  away  they  may  all  be  put  together  in  a  vat  to 
undergo  further  fermentation  with  a  view  to  the  production  of  vin- 
egar. This  material  should  not,  however,  remain  in  or  adjacent  to 
the  rooms  where  the  cider  is  processed.  The  large  fermentation  casks 
should  all  be  provided  with  manholes  so  situated  that  the  lees  can  be 
quickly  removed,  and  the  vessel  cleansed  when  it  is  at  once  ready  to 
receive  fresh  must  again. 

If  one  does  not  follow  the  plan  of  separating  the  liquor  from  the 
lees  as  above  given,  there  are  only  two  alternatives,  viz,  the  German 
method  of  inclusive  fermentation  or  the  use  of  the  filter,  largely 
resorted  to  by  English  makers,  and  to  some  extent  by  French.  The 
latter  is  a  very  troublesome  and  laborious  process. 


SECOND    FERMENTATION. 


Having  delivered  the  liquor  in  a  fairly  bright  limpid  condition  into 
the  casks  in  the  room  designed  for  second  fermentation,  which  is 
usually  also  the  storeroom  for  the  finished  product,  a  few  precautions 
should  be  observed: 

1.  The  vessels  should  be  filled  full  and  carefully  bunged  to  exclude 
air  and  all  manner  of  germs,  so  that  the  second  or  after  fermentation 
may  still  be  wholly  controlled  by  the  yeast  colonies  carried  over  in  the 
liquor  racked  off.  There  will  always  be  sufficient  of  these  floating  in 


100 

the  liquor  at  this  stage  to  control  the  fermentation  if  the  liquor  has 
been  properly  guarded  from  contamination. 

2.  In  bunging  the  vessels  tightly,  provision  must  still  be  made  for 
the  escape  of  gas  due  to  fermentation.     There  may  for  a  few  days  be 
a  fairly  active  fermentation,  especially  if  the  liquor  was  much  exposed 
to  the  air,  but  this  will  soon  subside  under  proper  conditions.     One 
of  the  special  funnels  or  air-control  devices  previously  described  may 
be  used,  and  will  assist  very  much  in  warning  the  cellar  man  of  what 
is  going  on  in  the  casks.     A  small  apparatus  such  as  the  glycerin 
funnel  (fig.  17)  will  answer  very  well  for  this  period  of  slow  fermenta- 
tion, but  the  crockery  funnel  (tig.  16)  renders  sampling  the  cider 
much  easier. 

3.  The  temperature  of  the  room  must  be  watched  and  controlled, 
and  from  this  rule  there  is  no  exception  if  a  sound  product  of  fine 
quality  is  desired.     Invariably  the  temperature  should  be  lower  dur- 
ing the  secondary  fermentation  than  during  the  first  period.     A  tem- 
perature of  8°  to  10°  C.  (40°  to  50°  F.),  as  shown  by  the  observations 
made  in  France  and  Germany,  appears  to  be  the  most  desirable  for 
this  period.     It  requires  a  good  cellar  indeed  to  reach  the  minimum 
here  mentioned,  but  45°  F.  can  be  reached,  and  at  this  temperature 
the  yeasts  work  properly,  and  many  disturbing  organisms,  as,  for 
example,  the  vinegar  ferment  Bacterium  aceti,  are  quite  reduced  to  dor- 
mancy.    If  the  temperature  can  be  gradually  reduced  to  40°  F.  as  the 
cider  reaches  maturity,  its  safety  from  mal-fermentation  is  therebjr 
well  insured,  because  the  organisms  concerned  in  diseases  of  cider  do 
not  thrive  well  at  this  low  temperature. 


SECOND    RACKING    OFF. 


If  the  must  has  fermented  in  an  orderly  manner  and  been  drawn  off 
as  outlined  above,  no  second  racking  is  required  until  the  fermenta- 
tion is  practically  completed.  But  if  a  troubled  fermentation  follows 
the  first  racking  off,  then  the  cider  must  be  very  carefully  watched 
and  the  temperature  kept  from  rising  above  the  limits  mentioned.  It 
will  be  well  to  use  under  these  circumstances  some  means  of  "fining" 
or  clarifying  the  cider  so  as  to  produce  entire  subsidence  of  the  parti- 
cles held  in  suspension  in  order  that  a  second  racking  off  may  occur 
as  soon  as  possible.  The  cider  must  be  freed  from  the  lees  and  as 
far  as  possible  from  albuminous  matters,  or  it  can  not  progress 
properly  to  the  completion  of  its  period  of  fermentation. 

Much  prejudice  exists  abroad  against  the  use  of  animal  substances, 
as  gelatin,  white  of  egg,  and  the  like,  for  fining  cider.  The  French 
use  quite  freely  preparations  of  the  bark  of  certain  species  of  oak. 
But  as  the  active  principle  in  these  is  the  tannin,  it  would  seem  better 
to  use  the  commercial  tannin  itself.  Our  American  fruit  is  so  weak 
in  tannin  that  the  addition  of  this  substance  will  doubtless  be  found 


101  ^'V^Lii'V/;.1/;' 

advantageous,  as  it -appears  to  steady  the  tendency  to  too  rapid  fer- 
mentation and  total  destruction  of  the  sugar;  and,  best  of  all,  it  helps 
to  coagulate  the  albuminous  matters,  and  thus  to  precipitate  them, 
carrying-  down  at  the  same  time  other  matter  held  in  suspension. 

The  dose  of  tannin  should  be  about  one-half  a  gram  per  gallon  accord- 
ing to  French  standards,,  but  our  fruit  may  require  more  for  the  best 
results.  This  may  very  properly  be  added  as  soon  as  the  must  is  run 
into  the  vessels  for  the  first,  fermentation,  but  it  is  mentioned  here 
especially  as  a  remedy  when  a  second  troubled  fermentation  sets  in. 
Stir  the  amount  of  tannin  needed  for  a  cask  into  a  small  quantity  of 
cider  and  then  add  to  the  cask,  and  agitate  by  inserting  a  clean  strip 
of  wood  and  stirring  the  cider  thoroughly.  After  treating  a  cask  in 
this  manner  watch  it  carefully  and  rack  off  just  as  soon  as  the  cider 
becomes  limpid.  The  cider  will,  during  this  period  of  disturbance, 
have  fallen  in  specific  gravity.  This  should  be  carefully  noted,  and 
the  liquor  should  be  transferred  as  quickly  and  quietly  as  possibly  into 
a  cask  suitable  for  the  still  fermentation. 

The  second  racking  off,  when  it  occurs  in  normal  process  of  fermen- 
tation, is  usually  accomplished  from  three  to  five  months  after  the  first, 
and  the  liquor  should  then  have  cleared  out  bright  and  fine,  with  beau- 
tiful color,  and  have  begun  to  form  the  bouquet  of  finished  cider. 
The  specific  gravity  will  vary  from  1.001  to  1.003,  and  the  cider  is  now 
ready  to  go  into  the  casks  designed  for  transportation  or  into  bottles. 
The  English  bottle  at  much  higher  specific  gravity,  but  this  would 
undoubtedly  be  a  wrong  practice  in  our  climate.  The  racking  into 
these  final  receptacles  should  be  accomplished  with  the  utmost  care  to 
guard  the  liquor  from  contamination,  and,  if  possible,  the  work  should 
be  done  in  cool,  bright  weather  with  high  barometer,  because  climatic 
conditions  affect  the  stillness  of  the  liquor  in  the  casks. 

When  ready  the  cider  can  be  put  in  barrels  or  casks  to  suit  the  needs 
of  the  trade,  but  these  must  be  cleaned  in  the  most  careful  manner;  and, 
in  order  to  secure  the  cider  from  the  effect  of  air,  the  outer  surface  of  the 
casks  should  be  carefully  scraped  to  expose  the  fresh  grain  of  the  wood 
and  then  treated  to  a  coat  of  hot  tallow.  This,  if  well  applied,  will 
render  them  quite  impervious  to  air,  and  thus  practically  seal  up  the 
cider.  The  modern  paraffin-coated  barrels  would  answer  well  for  this 
purpose.  The  utmost  care  should  be  observed  to  use  perfect  bungs. 
There  must  be  no  seepage,  and  cloths  must  not  be  used  around  the 
bungs,  for  these  will  be  constantly  moist,  and  thus  furnish  a  direct 
conduit  for  vinegar  germs  to  enter  the  cider.  The  bungs  may  be  very 
properly  dipped  in  boiling  tallow  or  paraffin  before  use. 

If  the  cider  is  bottled,  this  should  be  accomplished  with  the  utmost 
care,  taking  pains  to  conserve  the  carbon  dioxid  in  the  cider,  and  riot 
to  permit  it  to  come  in  contact  with  the  air.  The  corks  used  should 
be  the  best  champagne  corks  and  may  be  dipped  in  50  per  cent  alcohol 
just  as  used.  This  will  free  them  of  germs.  They  should  be  inserted 


»,,„,?  102 

with  a  regular  corking  machine.  The  bottles  should  be  left  standing 
upright  for  a  few  days  until  the  liquor  is  quiet,  and  may  then  be  laid 
on  the  side. 

LAGER    FERMENTATION. 

Whether  in  casks  or  bottles,  the  cider  is  now  left  in  the  storage  room 
to  ripen.  This  is  called  by  the  Germans  "lager  fermentation."  The 
temperature  should  be  kept  as  near  40°  F.  as  possible,  and  the  vessels 
(casks  or  bottles)  should  remain  undisturbed.  The  cider  will  soon  be- 
come sparkling,  and  in  two  to  four  months  will  be  in  condition  for  use. 

If  racked  into  these  final  receptacles  at  the  density  mentioned,  the 
air  being  carefully  excluded,  the  result  will  be  a  cider  which  will,  in 
a  measure,  champagnize  itself,  and  retain  some  sugar  for  a  long  time; 
but  if  left  in  casks  with  the  wood  pores  open,  the  cider  will  eventually 
become  quite  "dry"  (free  from  sugar),  the  gas  will  gradually  be  lost, 
and  the  product  will  be  a  still,  hard  cider.  This  sort  of  cider  is  little 
relished  by  most  people,  and  unless  preserved  by  some  chemical  reagent 
or  charged  with  carbonic-acid  gas  at  intervals,  it  will  be  turned  to 
vinegar  whenever  temperature  conditions  favor  the  growth  of  the 
vinegar  ferment. 

GERMAN   METHOD   OF    FERMENTATION. 

As  already  stated,  the  German  makers  pay  no  attention  to  the  forma- 
tion of  head  or  top  lees,  and  make  no  effort  to  draw  the  cider  from 
between  the  lees.  Their  cider  is,  therefore,  different  in  character  from 
English,  French,  or  American  cider.  Their  method  of  treating  the 
must  doubtless  accounts,  at  least  in  part,  for  this  difference. 

The  fresh  must  is  run  into  the  fermentation  cask  until  it  comes 
within  about  12  inches  of  the  bung,  and  then,  if  yeasts  are  used,  these 
are  sown  at  once,  using  about  one  part  of  the  strong  culture,  hereto- 
fore mentioned,  to  100  parts  of  must.  A  ventilating  funnel  is  now 
fitted  tightly  into  the  bunghole,  a  5  per  cent  solution  of  sulphuric  acid 
being  used  in  it  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  organisms  from  the  air. 

Fermentation  progresses  under  the  methods  above  discussed,  but 
nothing  is  done  to  the  liquor  until  it  has  fermented  out  nearly  to  dry- 
ness  and  becomes  still.  The  top  lees  are  permitted  to  fall  back  through 
the  liquor  and  settle  to  the  bottom  along  with  the  yeasts.  When  the 
liquor  is  quite  still,  some  makers  follow  the  practice  of  filling  the  cask 
to  the  bung  with  cider,  so  as  to  avoid  having  an  air  space,  and  then 
closing  the  bunghole  sufficiently  tight  to  prevent  access  of  air.  Bung- 
ing at  this  period  is  dangerous,  unless  a  vent  is  provided  for  bjr  means 
of  a  ventilating  bung. 

There  seems  to  be  little  uniformity  of  practice  among  the  Germans 
about  racking  off.  Some  racked  as  early  as  December,  and  then  again 
about  March,  while  others  racked  off  three  or  four  months  after  put- 
ting the  must  in  casks,  and  then  again  the  next  autumn,  if  the  liquor 


103 

was  not  bright  at  first  racking-.  Many  makers  filtered  at  first  racking 
and  put  the  cider  dowfi  in  casks  to  await  bottling  or  preparation  for 
transport  in  other  vessels. 

The  writer  invariably  found  the  ordinary  finished  German  ciders 
poor  in  color  and  flat  in  taste  to  the  American  pakte.  They  partake 
of  the  character  of  very  light  still  wines,  devoid  of  the  piquanc\T  and 
astringent  character  ordinarily  expected  in  ciders.  This  does.not  alter 
the  statement  heretofore  made  that  German  makers  produce  a  standard 
article  of  rather  more  definite  character  than  those  produced  in  the 
other  countries  visited,  and  they  champagnize  their  ciders  in  a  quite 
perfect  manner. 

PRESERVING    CIDER    IX    STORAGE. 

In  the  German  cellars  great  care  is  taken  to  sulphur  and  double  sul- 
phur the  casks,  especially  as  the  cider  is  drawn  from  one  to  another  in 


FIG.  20.— Device  for  maintaining  covering  layer  of  carbon  dioxid  as  cider  is  withdrawn. 


a  nearly  "dry"  condition.  They  also  resort  largely  to  the  employ- 
ment of  carbonic  acid  gas  as  a  preservative.  This  is  applied  from 
cylinders  of  carbon  dioxid  either  to  barrels  to  fill  up  the  vacant  space 
as  the  cider  is  drawn  (fig.  20),  or  to  charge  the  cider  in  storage  (fig.  21). 
A  cylinder  of  this  kind  may  be  attached  to  several  casks  at  once  so 
that  the  overflow  of  gas  from  the  first  goes  to  the  second,  and  so  on. 
As  soon  as  the  first  cask  is  sufficiently  charged,  it  is  disconnected  and 
tightly  bunged,  and  the  operation  is  continued  by  adding  other  casks 
to  the  circuit  and  dropping  off  those  charged  until  the  work  is  com- 
pleted. The  bungs  used  while  charging  with  gas  are  double  per- 


104 


forated,  as  shown,  and  glass  tubes,  with  small  rubber  hose  connections, 
are  used  to  convey  .the  gas  from  the  cylinder  to  the  casks.     The  device 


FIG.  21.— Devise  for  charging  casks  with  carbon  dioxid  in  storage  cellar. 

at  the  bottom  is  a  4-way  rubber  cross  which  admits  of  using  four 
short  distributing  pipes  in  the  liquor.  As  this  joint  is 
made  with  rubber  connections,  it  is  perfectly  flexible  and 
can  easily  be  inserted  and  removed  from  the  casks. 

The  device  shown  in  figure  22  is  used  to  sulphur  the 
casks.  This  may  be  used  when  cleaning  barrels  to  destroy 
fungous  organisms,  but  it  is  chiefly  used  abroad  to  sul- 
phur the  casks  just  before  running  the  liquor  into  them, 
both  at  first  and  second  fermentation.  Thorough  sul- 
phuring will  largely  destroy  the  vegetable  organisms 
which  may  be  present  in  the  casks.  If  they  are  not  after- 
wards rinsed  carefully,  too  much  sulphur  may  remain  in 
the  casks  so  that  the  after  fermentation  will  be  hindered 
and  a  taste  of  sulphur  may  even  be  contributed  to  the 
cider.  Perfectly  clean  water  should  be  used  for  rinsing. 
The  sulphur  match  is  placed  in  the  cup,  then  lighted, 
and  is  lowered  burning  into  the  cask  until  the  tapering 
bung  closes  the  opening.  It  will  burn  until  the  oxygen 
is  exhausted,  when  it  should  be  removed.  By  this  device 
none  of  the  sulphur  is  permitted  to  fall  into  the  cask. 

FILTERING   OR   CLARIFYING   THE    CIDER. 

The  best  English  and  French  makers  agree  in  the 
statement  that  filtering  of  ciders  is  a  very  laborious  and 
unsatisfactory  process,  resulting  usually  in  loss  of  quality 
to  the  product.    The  Germans,  on  the  contrary,  are  more 
FIG.  22.-Device    favorable  to  the  filter.     Filtering  cider  appears  to  be  a 

for  burning  sul-  °  •it.          .m 

phur  match  in    process  much  more  difficult,  ordinarily,  than  filtering 
wine  made  from  grapes,  and  should  be  avoided  if  pos- 
sible.    The  reason  for  this  is  the  presence  of  mucilaginous  substances 
in  the  liquor.     However,  unless  a  cider  can  be  racked  quite  free  from 


105 

the  lees  at  the  first  racking,  or  at  most  a  second  racking,  there  is  sure 
to  be  difficulty  in  securing  a  bright  product  unless  the  filter  or  some 
other  method  of  clarifying  is  resorted  to.  The  use  of  tannin  to  assist 
in  clarifying  ciders  has  already  been  mentioned. 

Filters  of  various  types  are  in  common  use  in  the  different  countries 
visited,  some  being  very  primitive,  while  others  are  the  best  up-to- 
date  appliances  seen. 

The  bag  filter. — Of  primitive  filters,  the  most  simple  was  a  device 
in  form  much  like  the  insect  nets  used  by  entomologists  to  catch  but- 
terflies (fig.  23).  The  cloth  used  was  linen,  of  such  a  texture  as  to 
thoroughly  strain  the  finest  particles  out  of  the  cider.  It  is  sometimes 
called  forfar.  These  conical  bags  are  about  a  foot  in  diameter  at  the 


FIG.  23. — Linen  sack  gravity  filter. 

larger  end  and  taper  to  a  point,  the  length  being  about  18  to  36  inches. 
They  were  used  in  considerable  numbers,  supported  on  a  rack  over  a 
vat,  as  indicated.  The  flow  through  these  bags  is  slow,  and  the  cider 
is  so  much  exposed  to  the  air  that  if  there  is  any  tendency  to  mal- 
fermentation  this  process  must  surely  increase  the  trouble.  The  cloths 
need  frequent  washing  to  clear  them  of  lees,  but  should  not  be  treated 
with  hot  water.  This  device  was  in  use  in  both  small  and  large  factories 
in  England,  sometimes  with  fresh  must,  but  usually  when  racking  the 
first  time.  It  is  not  commended  for  use  in  America. 

Tub  filter. — The  best  simple  device  seen  was  a  large  tub  or  vat  with 
a  finely  perforated  false  bottom,  supported  several  inches  above  the 
true  bottom,  the  space  between  being  packed  with  wood  pulp  which 


106 

served  to  strain  or  filter  the  cider  almost  perfectly.  This  was  observed 
in  an  English  factory  where  the  must  was  fermented  in  open  "  keeves," 
the  head  being  skimmed  off  until  active  fermentation  had  subsided, 
and  the  product  being  then  run  through  this  filter  and  put  into  casks 
for  ripening.  This  apparatus  does  good  work,  but  the  cider  is  much 
exposed  to  the  air. 

The  cellulose  power  filter. — Some  of  the  English  makers  have  come 
to  use  the  German  filter  shown  in  figure  2-i.  This  is  made  by  Otto 
Fromme  at  Frankfort,  and  is  the  best  device  observed.  It  is,  how- 
ever, costly,  and  a  force  pump  is  required  to  drive  the  liquid 
through  the  filter,  or  the  liquid  must  be  drawn  from  some  height  in 
order  to  give  the  necessary  pressure.  This  is  also  a  wood  pulp  or 
cellulose  filter.  The  pulp  is  arranged  between  perforated  disks,  and 
the  machine  permits  of  dismounting  and  washing  the  parts  and  the 
pulp  at  will.  In  some  English  factories  attempts  were  made  to  filter 


FIG.  24. — Cellulose  power  filter  used  in  Germany. 

the  fresh  juice  with  this  machine,  but  this  generally  resulted  in  fail- 
ure, and  besides  was  very  wearing  on  the  apparatus.  Fresh  apple 
must  is  very  difficult  to  filter  because  of  the  pectose  or  mucilaginous 
substances  it  contains.  The  use  of  any  of  the  above  filters  does  not 
appear  to  be  practicable  except  when  the  must  has  been  fairly  well 
fermented,  and  has  freed  itself  in  this  manner  of  a  large  part  of  the 
parenchymatous  tissues  and  albuminous  matters  present  therein. 

Asbestos  sack  filter.—  The  French  use  a  filter  (fig.  25)  which  they 
claim  will  remove  all  insoluble  matters  from  the  fresh  must,  and  leave 
it  clear  and  limpid  as  it  goes  into  the  cask.  No  demonstration  of  this 
was  seen,  but  this  filter  (Filtre  Maignen)  is  much  used  in  France, 
and  appears  to  be  a  good,  cheap  filter.  It  is  made  from  asbestos. 
A  fairly  closely  woven  asbestos  sack,  10  or  12  inches  in  diameter  and 
of  any  desired  length,  is  tied  tightly  at  one  end;  then  in  the  bottom  of 
this  is  placed  an  openwork  disk,  and  a  string  is  tied  above  the  same  so 
as  to  nearly  draw  the  sides  of  the  sack  together;  above  this  is  placed 
a  second  disk;  and  so  on  until  the  filter  sack  is  filled.  The  open  end 


107 

of  the  sack  is  then  tied  tightty  around  a  metal  fitting  which  connects 
with  a  rubber  pipe,  and  to  this  pipe  a  pump  is  attached.  The  filter  is 
placed  in  the  tub  or  vat  as  shown  (fig.  25),  and  the  suction  of  the  pump 
draws  the  must  through  the  parts  of  the  asbestos  sack  and  disks, 
largely  freeing  the  same  from  floating  particles  of  whatever  nature. 
In  some  styles  of  this  device  a  second  asbestos  sack  of  coarser  weave 
is  drawn  over  this  accordion-like  device,  and  serves  to  still  further 
assist  in  straining  the  liquor.  Possibly  when  the  cider  is  drawn  into 
an  open  tub  at  racking  off,  and  this  filter  is  carefully  used,  the  liquor 
can  be  filtered  bright. 

This  style  of  filter  is  readily  cleansed,  it  only  being  necessary  to 
untie  the  sack,  remove  the  disks,  and  wash  all  the  pieces  carefully. 
Salt  water,  used  warm,  is  said  to  accomplish  this  much  better  than 
fresh  water.  Filters  of  this  pattern  may  be  connected  up  in  sets  on 


FIG.  25. — Asbestos  sack  filter — "Filtre  maignen." 

a  main  pipe,  or  on  a  central  disk  of  metal,  and  the  capacity  may  be 
thus  greatly  increased.  It  should  be  added  that  all  metal  parts  of 
connections,  pipes,  pumps,  etc.,  must  be  of  brass,  or  other  material 
which  will  not  be  attacked  by  acids. 

German  asbestos  filter.—  The  Germans  use  chiefly  but  two  filters, 
viz,  the  one  made  by  Fromme  (shown  at  figure  24)  and  another  small 
affair  (fig.  26).  The  latter  is  an  asbestos  filter,  but  works  solely  by 
gravity ,  as  indicated.  A  self -regulating  (J)  valve  governs  the  inflow  at 
the  top,  hence  it  can  be  set  to  work  on  a  cask  and  left  to  itself  until 
the  receptacle  into  which  the  filtrate  runs  is  filled.  This  device  is  of 
small  capacity,  but  does  good  work.  The  cylinder  is  packed  with 
asbestos  which  can  be  removed,  washed,  and  re-used. 

Both  of  these  German  filters  are  constructed  with  the  idea  of  pro- 
tecting the  cider  from  the  air,  as  it  is  in  nowise  exposed  by  their  use 
except  when  it  is  delivered  into  the  cask.  This  is  a  point  of  much 


108 

importance,  especially  among  the  Germans,  as  their  cider  is  fermented 
nearly  to  dryness  before  filtering,  and  hence  is  less  able  to  protect 
itself  by  the  regeneration  of  abundant  carbonic  acid  gas.  For  this 
reason  the  Germans  advocate  charging  the  casks  with  carbonic  acid 
gas  before  running  the  cider  into  them. 


FIG.  26.— Asbestos  gravity  filter. 

THE  CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION  OF  CIDER. 

It  will  doubtless  be  clear  to  every  one  who  has  manufactured  ciders, 
or  followed  the  foregoing  discussion,  that  it  is  not  possible  to  fix  upon 
a  certain  chemical  composition  and  say  this  represents  what  should  be 
considered  a  standard  cider.  Chemical  analyses, 'however,,  reveal  what 
it  is  exceedingly  important  to  know,  viz,  the  sugar,  alcohol,  and  acid 
contents,  with  other  data  of  possibty  less  importance.  Without  these 
data  one  is  completely  in  the  dark  as  to  whether  the  product  has  been 
properly  or  improperly  fermented,  and  no  technical  progress  in  the 
study  of  methods  is  possible.  Chemical  analyses  rightly  interpreted 
will  also  aid  the  consumer  in  distinguishing  pure  from  sophisticated 
ciders. 


109 


The  complete  study  of  this  subject  is  yet  to  be  undertaken,  but  rep- 
resentative samples  of  ciders  were  collected  by  the  writer  in  the  dif- 
ent  countries  visited  and  forwarded  to  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  for  anatysis.  To  these 
samples  have  been  added  a  number  of  typical  samples  of  American 
ciders  collected  during  the  year  1901.  The  analyses  of  these  ciders, 
with  explanatory  remarks,  are  given  in  the  tables  which  follow: 

TABLE  XIV. — Composition  of  ciders:  Analyses  of  French  samples  by  Bureau  of  Chemistry, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1901. 


£ 

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13 

Cidre  mousseux  .  . 

1.0040 

6.30 

5.00 

0.3234 

0.  1824 

0.4483 

3.2948 

0.2942 

M.   Gibout-Roux,    Da- 

nestal,    Calvados. 

Dry  sparklingcider,  1 

year  old;  not  typical 

mousseux  of  France. 

14 

Cidre  marchand.  . 

1.0111 

3.72 

2.95 

.4303 

.2868 

1.  8970 

4.0650 

.1950 

Same  source.    An  ordi- 

nary cider  in  which 

flrstandsecond  press- 

ings   have    been 

united,  1  year  old. 

15 

Boisson  

1.  0101 

2.81 

2.23 

.4263 

.2952 

1.5888 

3.4692 

.1838 

Same  source.    Second 

and  third  pressings 

mixed,  1  year  old. 

40 

Cidre  mousseux  .  . 

1.0101 

6.05 

4.80 

.4214 

.2100 

2.  5100 

4.9500 

.2120 

Paul   Santier,   Rouen. 

A   tyrucal   French 

champagne  cider,  1 

year  old. 

41 

Cidre  marchand.  . 

1.0004 

6.45 

5.12 

.4214 

.1910 

.0900 

2.5100 

.2710 

Same  source.     Stand- 

ard pure  iuice,  Nor- 

47 

Cidre  ordinaire  .  . 

1.0061 

5.00 

3.97 

.2725 

.1070 

1.4300 

3.3800 

.1S30 

mandy  cider. 
A.  Power,  St.  Ouen-de- 

Thouberville-Eure. 

Ordinary  marchand 

cider,  4  months  old. 

48 

Cidre  superieur.  .  . 

.9998 

5.90 

4.68 

.2882 

.1240 

.0990 

2.0800 

.1820 

Same  source.    A  fine 

grade  of  marchand 

cider,  4  months  old. 

Averages  .  .  . 

1.0059 

5.18 

4.11 

.3691 

.1995 

1.  1519 

3.3927 

.2194 

110 

TABLE  XV. — Composition  of  ciders:  Analyses  of  German  samples,  Bureau  of  Chemistry, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1901. 


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Common    apfel 

1.0023 

5.93 

4.71 

0.2954 

0.0864 

0.1286 

2.  2140 

0.  2636 

C.  A.    Smith,    Schier- 

wein. 

stein.    Dry  cider,  1 

year  old. 

2 

Speierling    apfel 
wein. 

1.0002 

7.15 

5.68 

.2867 

.0696 

.1272 

2.  3186 

.  2539 

Same  source.    Said  to 
be  made  from  Speier- 
ling and  apple. 

3 

Common    apfel 

1.0032 

4.94 

3.92 

.4018 

.0552 

.1234 

2.  4110 

.2812 

Friedrich  Groll,  Weis- 

wein. 

baden.     Low  grade 

dry  cider,  1  year  old. 

4 

do  

1.0027 

5.83 

4.63 

.3553 

.0108 

.3062 

2.  7722 

.2306 

Heinrich  Merten,  Er- 

benheim.    Standard 

dry  cider,  new  made. 

5 

do....  

1.0003 

5.97 

4.74 

.3224 

.0564 

.0211 

2.2142 

.2834 

Fritz  Btitz,  Xeuenhain. 

Standard  dry  cider, 

1  year  old. 

6 

Export  apfel  wein 

.9997 

6.30 

5.00 

.2254 

.0360 

.0435 

2.2333 

.2544 

Same  source.    Export 

special  stock,  1  year 

old. 

7 

Schaume    apfel 

1.0221 

10.67 

8.47 

.3773 

.1068 

7.9104 

9.2274 

.2106 

Same  source.     Cham- 

wein. 

pagne  cider,  heavily 

sugared,  1  year  old. 

9 

Export  apfel  wein 

.9997 

5.70 

4.52 

.2254 

.0576 

.  0524 

2.0201 

.2236 

Gebriider     Freveisen, 

Frankfort.     Select 

dry  cider,  1  year  old. 

10 

Speierling    apfel 

1.0004 

5.85 

4.64 

.2631 

.0396 

.0187 

1.9158 

.2352 

Same  source.    Dry  ci- 

wein. 

der  from  Sorbus  do- 

mestica  and  apples, 

1  year  old. 

11 

Borsdorfer    apfel 

1.0000 

5.81 

4.61 

.2548 

.0360 

.1221 

1.9438 

.2346 

Same   source.      From 

wein-. 

German    Borsdorfer 

apple,  1  vear  old. 

12 

Champagner  ap- 

1.0178 

8.03 

6.37 

.2573 

.0420 

5.6544 

7.3464 

.1842 

Same    source.     A  su- 

fel wein. 

gared  champagne  ci- 

der, 1  year  old. 

Averages  .  .  . 

1.0044 

6.56 

5.21 

.2968 

.0597 

1.  3189 

3.  3288 

.2414 

TABLE  XVI. — Composition  of  ciders:  Analyses  of  English  samples  by  Bureau  of  Chemistry, 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  1901. 


Per 

Grams  per  100  cc. 

Source  and  remarks. 

Sam- 

Spe- 

cent 
alco- 

Re- 

[Nos. 22  to  31  from  Bath 

ple 
No. 

Name  or  brand. 

cine 
grav- 
ity. 

hol 
by 
vol- 

Alco- 
hol. 

Total 
acids. 

Vola- 
tile 
acids. 

duc- 
ing 

su- 

Ex- 
tract. 

Ash. 

and  West  Show,  1900; 
Nos.  55  to   61    from 
Bath  and  West  Show, 

ume. 

gar. 

1901.J 

22 

Devonshire  cider, 

1.0222 

4.16 

3.30 

0.2548 

0.0672 

4.  7414 

7.  2136 

0.  2420 

Rated  by  official  chem- 

first prize. 

ist  of  Bath  and  West 

Society  above  4  per 

cent  alcohol. 

23 

Devonshire  small 
cider,  second 

I.OLV: 

3.14 

2.50 

.3822 

.1356 

5.  1895 

7.6544 

.3080 

Rated  below  4  per  cent 
alcohol. 

prize. 

24 

Devonshire  small 

1.  0312 

2.76 

2.19 

.3283 

.0588 

6.5366 

9.2004 

.2500 

Do. 

cider,  first  prize. 

25 

Herefordshire 

1.0304 

1.72 

1.37 

.2377 

.0840 

6.1282 

8.  5132 

.2852 

Do. 

small  cider,  sec- 

ond prize. 

26 

Herefordshire  ci- 
der, first  prize. 

1.0325 

2.75 

2.18 

.2989 

.0780 

6.3584 

9.  3126 

.2708 

Rated  above  4  percent 
alcohol.     Champion 

prizecider,  1900,  Bath 

and  West  Show. 

27 

Somersetshire  ci- 
der,   second 

1.0266 

3.85 

3.06 

.2107 

.0504 

5.2148 

8.  1472 

.3152 

Rated  above  4  per  cent 
alcohol. 

prize. 

Ill 


TABLE  XVI. — Composition  of  ciders:  Analyses  of  English  samples^  by  Bureau  of  Chemistry, 
V.  >V.  Department  of  Agriculture,  1901 — Continued. 


Per 

Grams  per  100  cc. 

Source  and  remarks. 

Sam- 
ple 
No. 

Name  or  brand. 

Spe- 
cific 
grav- 
ity. 

alco- 
hol 
by 
vol- 

Alco- 
hol. 

Total 
acids. 

Vola- 
tile 
acids. 

Re- 
duc- 
ing 

su- 

Ex- 
tract. 

Ash. 

[Nos.  22  to  31  from  Bath 
and  West  Show,  1900; 
Nos.  65    to   61  from 
Bath  and  West  Show, 

ume. 

gar. 

1901.] 

28 

Somersetshire  ci- 

1.0307 

4.25 

3.38 

.3185 

.1116 

5.  7760 

9.  9912 

.3886 

Do. 

der,  first  prize. 

29 

Somersetshire 
'     small  cider,  first 

1.0371 

2.86 

2.27 

.  2597 

.0768 

7.  4659 

10.  8164 

.3116 

Rated  below  4  per  cent 
alcohol. 

prize. 

30 

Somersets  hire 

1.  0220 

3.37 

2.68 

.2407 

.0828 

4.5548 

6.  9672 

.3040 

Do. 

small  cider,  sec- 

ond prize. 

31 

Somersetshire 

1.0367 

2.75 

2.18 

.3259 

.0402 

7.  6946 

10.  5228 

.2856 

Do. 

small  cider,  re- 

serve. 

32 

Standard  still  ci- 

.9997 

6.83 

5.47 

.2818 

.1020 

.0325 

2.1458 

.2666 

H.  P.  Bulmer  &  Co., 

der  from  cask. 

Hereford.     A     very 

good    dry   cider,    1 

year  old. 

33 

Cherry  Pearmain 

1.0251 

5.87 

4.65 

.2391 

.0756 

3.  3121 

5.  9816 

.2450 

Same  source.  In  grade 

cider,  sparkling. 

is     equal     to     best 

French  moussenx  or 

champagne  cider;  1 

year  old. 

34 

H  o  1  m  e  r  Perry, 

1.  0167 

6.11 

4.85 

.2999 

.1630 

3.  4064 

6.4502 

.2772 

Same  source.  Very  good 

sparkling. 

champagne      Perry, 

doubtless  sugared,  1 

year  old. 

35 

F  o  x  w  help   and 

1.0206 

4.85 

3.85 

.2867 

.0636 

4.  5392 

6.9924 

.2680 

Same  source.  A  special 

Kingston  Black 

brand  of  sweet  cider, 

cider. 

1  year  old. 

36 

Standard    spark- 

1.0152 

4.93 

3.91 

.5366 

.  3228 

1.3488 

6.0354 

3.666 

Toddingtoii     Orchard 

ling  cider. 

Co.,    Winchecombe, 

Gloucestershire. 

Nearly  dry  mousseux 

or  champagne  cider, 

37 

Standard  dry  cider 

1.0065 

4.93 

3.91 

.3112 

.0768 

.9200 

3.2532 

.3146 

very  good,  Syearsold. 
Same     source.      Good 

still,  dry  cider,2vears 

old. 

38 

Champagne  Perry 

1.0129 

6.01 

4.77 

.3577 

.1296 

.8768 

4.  8166 

.3928 

Same     source.      Fine 

grade  of  champagne 

Perry,   probably  su- 

gared, 2  years  old. 

39 

Standard      new 

1.0185 

4.19 

3.33 

.3627 

.1218 

3.  2416 

6.  0570 

.3238 

Same    source.    Newly 

cider. 

bottled  cider,  would 

become  sparkling. 

55 

Herefordshire 
small  cider,  sec- 

1.0292 

3.15 

2.50 

.2568 

.0610 

5.5000 

9.  0200 

.2230 

Bath  and  West  Show, 
1901.    Rated  below  4 

56 

ond  prize. 
Herefordshire 

1.0304 

1.60 

1.27 

.3567 

.0640 

4.4200 

8.5500 

.3050 

per  cent  alcohol. 
Do. 

small  cider,  re- 

serve. 

57 

Somersetshire  ci- 
der, first  prize. 

1.0380 

4.55 

3.62 

.3862 

.0530 

7.1300 

12.  1200 

.3250 

Rated  above  4  per  cent 
alcohol. 

58 

Somersetshire  ci- 

1.0244 

3.80 

3.02 

.2823 

.0950 

3.5600 

7.9800 

.2580 

Do. 

der,   second 

prize. 

59 

Somersetshire  ci- 

1. 0304 

4.15 

3.30 

.3371 

.0480 

4.4000 

9.3800 

.3390 

Do. 

der,  reserve. 

60 

Som  ersetshire 
small  cider,  first 

1.  0398 

2.55 

2.02 

.4704 

.0520 

5.7800 

11.4900 

.1980 

Rated  below  4  percent 
alcohol. 

prize. 

61 

Somersetshire 

1.  0172 

3.60 

2.86 

.2803 

.0620 

2.7700 

6.1900 

.2870 

Do. 

small  cider,  sec- 

ond prize. 

Average  .... 

1.0249 

4.11 

3.14 

.3161 

.0910 

4.  4375 

7.  7920 

.2940 

112 


TABLE  XVII. — Composition  of  ciders:  Analyses  of  American  samples  by  Bureau  of 
Chemistry,  U.  8.  Department  of  Agriculture,  1901, 


Per 

Grams  per  100  cc. 

Sam- 

Spe- 

cent 
alco- 

Re- 

ple 
No. 

Name  or  brand. 

cine 
grav- 
ity. 

hol 
by 

vol- 

Alco- 
hol. 

Total 
acids. 

Vola- 
tile 
acids. 

duc- 
ing 
su- 

Ex- 
tract. 

Ash. 

Source  and  remarks. 

ume. 

gar. 

49 

Sparkling  draft 

1.0053 

5.87 

4.66 

.2979 

.0890 

1.1500 

3.3900 

.2830 

Genesee    Fruit    Co., 

cider,  extra  dry. 

Rochester,  N.  Y.    A 

fair,  slightly  gaseous 

cider,  1  year  old. 

50 

Sparkling  draft... 

1.0101 

5.57 

4.42 

.3508   .1340 

2.1100 

4.6700 

.28HO 

Same    source.     More 

cider. 

sparkling    than 

above;  1  year  old. 

61 

Plain    fermented 

.9987 

7.83 

6.22 

.3626 

.0860 

.0000 

2.3600 

.2920 

Same  source.    Perfect- 

cider. 

ly  dry,  still  cider,  1 

year  old. 

52 

Crab-apple  cider.. 

1.W78 

•  5.51 

4.37 

.2372 

.0490 

3.3400 

6.7000 

.2770 

Same  source.  A  spark- 

ling cider  of  mous- 

seux  or  champagne 

grade,  1  year  old. 

63a 

Paulding    Pippin 

1.0289 

2.16 

1.71 

.4567 

.0250 

5.9900 

8.2300 

.2410 

H.  Paulding,  jr.,  Hun- 

cider,  1900. 

tington.  L.  I.,  N.  Y. 

A   sweet    mousseux 

cider,  1  year  old. 

53 

Same  1899  . 

1.0292 

3.92 

3.12 

.0220 

5.1700 

9.0300 

.2830 

Same  source.    Almost 

identical  in  charac- 

ter, but  greater  al- 

coholic   strength;    2 

years  old. 

Average  — 

1.  0150 

5.14 

4.08 

.3410 

.0590 

2.9600 

5.7300 

.2770 

Sauternesti 

1.0040 

5.54 

4.43 

.3500 

9800°  finnn 

Made  with  pure  yeast 

culture  by  Professor 

Alwood.  "A  fine  dry 

champagne  cider. 

Valise  d'Augea... 

1.0030 

6.51 

5.20 

.4800 



.2000 

2.  2400 

Made  with  pure  yeast, 

as    above.      A*  very 

dry  sparkling  cider. 

a  Samples  of  cider  made  at  Virginia  Agricultural  Experiment  Station;  analyses  made  by  Professor 
Davidson. 

Discussion  of  these  tables  is  hardly  necessary  further  than  to  call 
attention  to  salient  facts  relating  to  the  specific  gravity,  alcohol,  and 
sugar  content.  The  French  and  German  ciders  are  remarkably  alike 
in  regard  to  specific  gravity  and  the  indications  are  that  these  ciders 
are  fermented  practically  dry.  The  analyses  show  this  to  be  the  case. 
There  are  two  German  samples — Nos.  7  and  12 — with  comparatively 
high  specific  gravity,  and  these  show  a  considerable  percentage  of 
sugar  still  unfermented,  in  fact  a  very  much  larger  percentage  than  is 
necessary  to  produce  the  desired  result,  namely,  to  champagnize  the 
cider.  The  French  cider,  No.  40,  is  a  champagne  cider  with  a  much 
smaller  sugar  content.  It  is  a  question  of  the  taste  of  one's  customers 
whether  such  highly  sugared  champagne  ciders  as  these  two  German 
samples  should  be  made.  In  the  writer's  opinion  the  French  sample 
is  better;  and  it  has  been  definitely  proved  at  Blacksburg  that  a  tine 
gaseous  or  champagne  cider  can  be  made  without  the  addition  of  sugar. 
The  French  samples  are  strikingly  high  in  volatile  acids,  which  would 
indicate  the  presence  of  acetic  acid.  The  cellar  methods  may  account 
for  this. 

The  two  analyses  given  at  the  bottom  of  the  table  of  American  sam- 
ples are  ciders  made  at  the  experiment  station  at  Blacksburg,  Va. 
Both  were  prepared  from  samples  of  the  same  must,  handled  side  by 


113 

side,  until  finished.  Each  was  sown  with  a  culture  of  pure  yeast,  the 
one  a  yeast  isolated  from  a  French  Sauterne  wine,  the  other  from  a 
Normandy  cider  of  the  Vallee  d'Auge  district.  The  first  resulted  in 
a  tine  cider  of  beautiful  color,  gaseous,  and  with  flavor  like  cham- 
pagne, the  other  in  a  very  fine,  dry  cider,  sparkling  and  gaseous. 
Sugaring  ciders  for  champagnizing  is  a  doubtful  practice,  and  the 
best-posted  makers  abroad  insist  that  the  true  future  of  cider  making 
lies  along  the  line  of  fully  fermented  dry  ciders. 

The  analyses  of  English  ciders  show  wide  variations  in  their  compo- 
sition. The  samples  Nos.  22  to  31  and  55  to  61,  inclusive,  were  taken 
at  the  Bath  and  West  Show,  the  first  set  in  1900  and  the  second  in 
1901.  Both  sets  of  samples  reveal  similar  characteristics — high  specific 
gravity  and  in  the  main  low  alcohol  and  high  sugar  content.  These 
are  simply  incompletely  fermented  ciders,  either  filtered  as  clear  as 
possible  of  yeasts  and  held  in  highly  sulphured  casks,  or  treated  with 
chemicals  to  check  fermentation.  Nos.  32  to  39  are  samples  taken  at 
factories,  as  revealed  by  the  notes,  and  are  among  the  very  best  ciders 
collected,  and  show  the  possibilities  of  English  cider  fruits. 

WORKS  OF  REFERENCE. 

As  mentioned  previously  in  the  discussion,  the  French  literature  on 
cider  making  is  very  voluminous,  but  it  can  not  be  said  that  it  is  all 
of  great  value.  In  fact  there  is  an  enormous  literature  on  every 
phase  of  the  subject,  expressing  ever}7  shade  of  opinion,  so  that  one  is 
at  great  loss  what  to  commend.  Consequently  there  is  given  in  the 
subjoined  list  only  a  few  references,  and  these  are  to  those  sources 
which  were  found  to  be  most  useful  and  reliable.  The  first  work  is 
now  out  of  print  and  can  rarely  be  found.  The  others  are  mostly 
easy  to  obtain. 

Of  the  German  literature  it  must  be  said  that  it  is  not  abundant  nor 
very  rich  in  actual  observations  made  on  growing  the  fruit  and  making 
the  cider,  nor  in  technical  investigations  of  a  chemical  nature  or  other- 
wise. The  books  presented  in  the  list  are  mostly  compilations  by 
persons  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  actual  practice  of  cider  or  wine 
making. 

The  recent  English  literature  is  practically  all  found  in  the  Journal 
of  the  Bath  and  West  of  England  Society  and  the  other  two  works 
named.  There  is  an  older  English  literature  on  the  subject,  which  is 
practically  inaccessible. 

FRENCH    WORKS. 

L.  de  Boutteville  et  A.  Hauchecorne.  Le  Cidre.  A  treatise  based  upon  the  papers 
and  discussions  delivered  before  the  Cider  Congresses  held  at  Rouen  1864  to  1875. 
This  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  important  papers  in  the  French  literature,  com- 
prising the  most -elaborate  notes  upon  varieties  and  their  chemical  composition. 

A.  Truelle.  Guide  pratique  des  meilleurs  fruits  de  pressoir,  employes  dans  le  pays 
d'Auge.  L'enseignement  de  la  pomiculture  et  de  Pindustrie  cidriere  en  France 

17247— No.  71—03 8 


114 

et  a  1'etranger.  (Congres  international  pour  1' etude  des  fruits  de  pressoir  et  de 
1'industrie  du  cidre,  Paris,  1900,  pp.  127-326.)  (In  this  treatise  the  author  gives 
the  most  elaborate  bibliography  extant  of  works  in  all  languages  on  cider  making 
and  related  subjects.) 

Dr.  Dennis-Dumont.  Proprietes  medicales  et  hygieniques  du  cidre.  Caen.  With- 
out date.  (In  this  Dr.  Dumont  presents  a  considerable  array  of  facts  concerning  the 
healthfulness  of  cider  as  a  common  beverage. ) 

Bulletin  de  1'Association  pomologique  de  1'ouest.  (This  is  the  publication  of  a 
society  organized  in  1883  under  above  title,  which  continued  up  to  1897,  during  which 
time  it  published  annual  volumes  containing  many  papers  of  value.) 

Bulletin  de  1'Association  francaise  pomologique  pour  1'etude  des  fruits  de  pres- 
soir  et  1'industrie  du  cidre.  (This  is  the  proceedings  of  a  society  organized  in 
1897,  which  continues  to  meet  annually  and  publishes  a  journal  containing  papers 
by  the  best  investigators,  practitioners,  and  writers  on  this  subject. ) 

G.  Power.  Traite  de  la  culture  du  pommier  et  de  la  fabrication  du  cidre.  Tome  1. 
Monographic  des  meilleures  varietes  de  pommes  a  cidre.  Tome  II.  (These  two  vol- 
umes constitute  the  best  work  on  this  subject  in  the  French  language,  considered  as  a 
text-book. ) 

G.  Jacquemin.  Les  fermentations  rationnelles.  (In  this  large  work  M.  Jacque- 
min  deals  extensively  with  the  employment  of  pure  yeast  in  the  manufacture  of 
wines  and  ciders,  and  summarizes  much  of  the  best  literature  on  the  subject.) 

L.  Seguin  et  F.  Pailheret.  Etudes  sur  le  cidre.  (This  work  gives  an  account  of 
the  studies  made  by  the  authors  on  the  manufacture  of  cider  by  diffusion,  at  the 
national  school  of  agriculture  at  Rennes,  France,  and  as  an  appendix,  the  most  com- 
plete table  of  the  analyses  of  cider  fruits  that  the  writer  has  yet  seen. ) 

Bulletin  du  Ministere  de  1' Agriculture.  (This  publication  is  issued  in  serial  num- 
bers from  the  ministry  and  contains  many  important  articles,  among  others  all  of 
Professor  Kayser's  work. ) 

Le  Cidre.     (A  monthly  review  devoted  to  the  industry  of  cider  making.) 

Le  Cidre  et  le  Poire.     (A  monthly  revieWsimilar  to  the  last  named.) 

GERMAN   WORKS. 

Dr.  A.  Graeger.  Die  Obstweinkunde,  oder  Bereitung  aller  Arten  Wein  aus  Beeren 
Stein  und  Kernobst,  als  auch  aus  den  Bliiten,  Bliittern  und  Wurzeln  einiger 
Pflanzen. 

Johannes  Bottner.  Die  Obstweinbereitung.  Anleitung  zum  Keltern  des  Apfel- 
weins  und  der  andern  Obst,  etc.  Sechste  Auflage. 

Prof.  Dr.  Behrend.  Untersuchung  von  in  Wiirttemberg  produzirten  Obstweinen. 
(Mittheilungen  aus  Hohenheim.)  Obstweine  aus  reinen  Obst-Arten,  ausgestellt 
von  dem  Technologischen  Institut  der  Koniglichen  wiirttembergischen  landwirth- 
schaftlichen  Akademie  in  Hohenheim,  etc. 

Prof.  Dr.  Julius  Wortmann.  Anwendung  und  Wirkung  reiner  Hefen  in  der 
Weinbereitung.  (Studies  from  the  Laboratory  of  Plant  Physiology,  Geisenheim.) 

Dr.  Adolf  Cluss.  Die  Apfelweinbereitung.  (A  general  treatise  on  cider  making, 
written  in  a  plain  style. ) 

Antonio  dal  Piaz.  Die  Obstweinbereitung  nebst  Obst-  und  Beerenwein-Brennerei. 
(A  compilation.) 

ENGLISH    WORKS. 

E.  Hogg  and  H.  Graves  Bull.  The  Apple  and  Pear  as  Vintage  Fruits.  (The  best 
recent  English  work,  which  treats  both  of  cider  fruits  and  cider  making. ) 

Journal  of  the  Bath  and  West  of  England  Society,  established  1777,  and  Southern 
Counties  Association.  Vol.  IV,  1894,  and  subsequent  numbers. 

Cooke,  C.  W.  Kadcliffe.  Lecture  on  Cider  before  the  Society  of  Arts.  A  Book 
about  Cider  and  Perry.  (A  plain,  practical  treatise  by  a  country  gentleman  who 
makes  good  cider. ) 

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